This presents a good opportunity for adding Character Story elements to the Character. Story Hook ++
Common Standards: Social Standing/Status is reflected directly in a Standard of Living and indirectly in Clothing and signifiers such as Prestige in Places as well as Items and Marks. Conversely, such things may also be used to reflect or even present a specific level of Prestige fame, etc. A certain measure of such things may be required in Social Dealings and leveraged by Social Features and expected by Contact and shared bond of culture. All of these may vary by Availability and culture within a Setting and/or specific Properties of a Locale/Settlement.
| Measure | Description | _Baseline_ % Cost Portion |
|---|---|---|
| Pariah | (Extreme) MERIT POINTS = 1 | |
| Poor | (Extreme) MERIT POINTS = 2 | |
| Lower | MERIT POINTS = 4 | |
| Middle | (Average) MERIT POINTS = 8 | |
| Upper | MERIT POINTS = 16 | |
| Privileged | (Extreme) MERIT POINTS = 32 | |
| Elite | (Extreme) MERIT POINTS = 64 |
As characters (and organizations, institutions, groups, etc.) develop, they gain a level of notoriety based on their actions with significant impact. With each action that causes a great stir, they gain an amount of Fame according to the GM or as designated in the Reward section of a published Adventure. When characters perform such acts showing great hostility and intimidation to others, the fame becomes Infamy. If they have more Infamy than Fame, it engenders fear, hostility, and anxiety. Global Reputation is the widest area possible in which word of the character’s deeds may reach. This depends on modes of communications, speed of travel, remoteness of a person or place, etc. The GM must make this determination ultimately.
Reputation Score: Add both, divide that total by 10, rounding down, to achieve their reputation score.
This is a representation both of awareness and quality, measured in levels:
Pariah [-4] / Poor [-1] / Common [0] / Familiar [1] / Established [4] / Popular [8] / Prominent [16] / Privileged [32] / Elite [64]
Signifiers are signature possessions, capabilities and behaviors which custom dictates those associated with the pedigree in society should possess. For example, the type and style of clothes reflect the typical levels of Social Standing in a culture, along with the ability to speak a language, literacy, knowledge, dance, riding, formal education, etc. – it varies by setting and locale. Without these, a character may not be seen by the members of the society as of a particular pedigree; even peers may count them less. This could have great impact on their starting status, even continued benefits for their standing. Additionally, one of the signs of pedigree and standing is obligations to the place, item or institution providing the pedigree, as well as the mitigation and handling of affairs of those lower in standing. Characters may have certain ones they must uphold that they inherit to gain anything from their pedigree.
Characters can also gain prestige from family, institution, place, or some other association which has built prestige in the past. For example, in a world with nobles and peerage, the prestige of their family name from whence they came. In essence, it represents how a culture or person perceives their lineage, background, and upbringing. A higher value pedigree indicates a longer, and usually more important, history.
You can either assume the pedigree is the same as social standing, or add additional flavor to their background by determining it randomly. Assuming that this will be generated randomly for a character, a player will make a check to generate a level when is then checked against to determine pedigree. Characters with a personal high standing and low pedigree are assumed to have families which have fallen from favor or are in ruin economically – the story for this can be worked out between player and GM.