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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Water Bob" data-source="post: 5873586" data-attributes="member: 92305">Interesting idea! This is mentioned in the Reputation rules.  What you'd do is simply increase or decrease the benefit of the deed modifier. For example, a 1st level fighter kills a hatchling wyvern.  This is his +1 Deed for his level. Then, a bard comes along and sings of how the great warrior slew a dragon.   The GM would need to inflate the Reputation bonus for the deed.   Now, the rules do caution that the tall tale has to be believed by a wide number of people.  Otherwise, the truth is out, and the Deed bonus is normal. Also, the deed needs to be witness by people, otherwise people tend not to believe.  Maybe the 1st level fighter really did kill a full grown wyvern by getting lucky.  But, nobody saw him do it.  And, he can't lead anybody back to where the body fell. So, what would probably be a +3 deed modifier for the reputation for that fighter has become a +1 modifier because nobody believes him.   Much of this Reputation system from the Conan RPG is strongly guided by the GM. If this bard you speak of is known for tall tells, then I'd say that while people might enjoy his entertainment, nobody really takes him seriously. Thus, no effect on the fighter's reputation. But, if this bard has a reputation himself for reporting the truth, and somehow, he's mistaken about the 1st level fighter and thinks that the low level dude really did take out a full grown dragon, then the 1st level fighter would, in deed, have a boosted reputation (with a bigger modifier than the deed deserved) predicated on the lie. Still, if someone actually meets the 1st level Fighter and sees him for what he is, they'll probably doubt the tale.  So, still, those false rep points may mean little in the long run.    Another way a bard might effect reputation is distance that the rep travels.  In the Conan game, a character's rep loses points the farther from the deed's source the character goes.  A rep suffers a -1 modifier if the character travels to another country.  A -2 penalty to rep is leveled if the character moves to an entirely different region (say, from the barbaric north to the civilized south).   And, a -4 penalty is applied to Rep if the character travels to an extremely different region (say, from the civilized south to far off, mythical Khitai). Given that the rep is sustained for the character's entire country or kingdom that he inhabits, and only takes a -1 hit if the character moves directly outside of that area, I'd say that a single bard would have a hard time of changing a character's rep all by himself. But, let's say it does happen.  What I'd do, instead of modifying rep, is make the area where the rep takes no penalties larger than normal.  For example, a bard of Brythunia might be singing the tales of a certain Cimmerian Barbarian.  Instead of taking the -1 hit to rep when in Brythunia, I'd allow the Cimmerian to still be considered "within his own kingdom" because of the bard.     The GM needs to get a "feel" for the system, and once he does, he can change basic modifiers to affect character's reputation. Like the bonus to rep that a character gets by following a Code of Honor, the GM could place modifiers on the character's base reputation based on game events. In your game where the lies of cowardice were being spread, the GM might put a -1 or -2 modifier on the base rep for the character. Remember that many people have to believe what is being said about the character.  Plenty could hear he's a coward, but if the character already had a strong reputation, people aren't going to buy some rumor about cowardice.  Thus, in my game, the cowardice rumor would have to be pretty doggone convincing in order to affect reptuation.  And, even if it did, a -1 or -2 modifier might not tarnish the good name of a mid or high level character all that much.  Repuations are built over time, and this system reflects that. If I told you that Patton actually retreated too early, leaving his men to die, during the Battle of the Bulge, you wouldn't believe me because of what you know about Patton and the battle.  In game terms, Patton is a high level character with many positive deeds boosting his repuation. So, it's hard to change some characters' rep with just one rumor.  You're going against everything they've done in their lives--that people have heard for years.      There are some other d20 Reputation systems out there.  I haven't found one that I like as much as I like the Conan version.  But, there may be some mechanics out there to suit your game. Do a google for "d20 Reptuation".  You'll get some hits.      I'm not sure about that.  I know little about that Feat, and it's not mentioned in the Conan Reputation rules.</blockquote>

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