Fame and Infamy

Your reputation is everything, especially in the adventuring business - it can influence who hires you, who works with you, and who knows to stay out of your way. Are you a local hero, someone who can simply visit local Dukes unannounced and be welcomed in, or are you known for being a nefarious and coldhearted? The Fame and Infamy system is a way of determining something like this in a player-measurable manner.

For every 100 EXP earned by a character, they gain a point of Fame. Fame acts as a beneficial modifier towards you (most of the time) for skills in social situations. You may be given a better deal on a piece of gear, local lords look favorably upon you, other adventurers want your advice and to get on your good side. Each point of Fame usually comes in the form of either a bonus to a given check, or a reduction in the normal DC for an applicable check. The GM is the arbiter of who is influenced by your Fame and who isn't. Generally speaking, the further from the starting location of your adventure that you are, the more Fame you'll need for them to even have heard of you. For example, 5 Fame means much more in a local setting as opposed to a town 50 miles away.

Additionally, a player may earn Infamy. This is a separate pool from Fame and has separate effects. Each point of Infamy represents a particularly reprehensible action that the player has done (and in turn, which others have heard about). The GM may hand out Infamy as they see fit on a player-by-player basis, but never more than once per game session. Infamy, like Fame, may apply to appropriate social tests. Although it more commonly is a penalty, Infamy can prove useful, especially when dealing with Evil-aligned creatures. In order to gain Infamy, a character's awful deeds must become known, through one mean or another. This could be on account of the character's fellow party members discussing it with an NPC, or NPCs bearing witness to the act(s). Either way, a character who is carefully concealing their actions will not gain Infamy unless they are caught. In such an event, it is possible for such a character to gain more than one Infamy in a session of play.