Tips and Tactics

Do You Know Who I Am?

By Owen K.C. Stephens

The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is easy to learn, but it can be difficult
to master. With that in mind, we proudly present "Tips and Tactics," a
monthly online column designed to help you get the most out of your Star
Wars roleplaying! Each month, Owen K.C. Stephens (author of Starships
of the Galaxy and co-author of the Rebellion Era Sourcebook andAlien
Anthology) will show you how to use various rules together, suggest new
ways to use old rules, and clarify complex rules.

In the seventh installment, Owen shows you how to throw your weight
around the galaxy by building up your Reputation, good or bad - and how
to make the Reputation rules a bigger part of the game.

A session of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game is often about negotiation and investigation as much as
shooting bad guys. This is an area that is normally dominated by skill use - Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather
Information, Intimidate, and Knowledge checks in particular. Nobles, scoundrels, and Jedi consulars
often shine in such encounters because they have the needed class skills. But another factor can play a
large part in social settings, and that's a character's Reputation.

A successful Reputation check can provide a character with a total of +22 in skill check bonuses (+2 for
Intimidate, and +5 for Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information and Entertain) or +10 in total bonuses if
Infamous (+5 for Bluff, Gather Information and Intimidate but -5 for Diplomacy). By 11th level, a typical
noble has a Reputation of 8, meaning a roll of 12 is enough to be recognized on his homeworld, if it's
among the Core Worlds. That's not bad, and a player should try to use the advantage whenever
possible. If a Gamemaster doesn't seem to be thinking about a character's Reputation during a
negotiation, the hero can always pipe up with "Do you know who I am?"

"But Sir, Who's Going To Stay With the Droids?"

Another useful side effect of a high Reputation is the possibility of attracting followers. Of course, not
all GMs allow followers in their game, but if they're permitted, followers can be very useful allies for
the heroes. This doesn't come into play until a character is 10th level, but most lower-level characters
have little need for followers, anyway. By the time you reach the upper levels, though, it can be
helpful to have a few people you can trust.

In general, it's a good idea to have at least one follower with a level close to your own (to handle
genuinely dangerous tasks you don't have time for yourself) and a collection of lower-level followers to
watch over your starship, guard your holdings, and run errands for you. Followers who are good at very
different things than your character are the most useful (ranging from bodyguards for a noble to a
Force adept healer for a soldier).

Often, followers are the most fun when they're drawn directly from past adventures. If you saved the
people of Gendius V from a plague, you may well want to have a few young adventurers from their
world among your followers.
"What, You Think You're Some Kind of Jedi?"
For lower-level characters and members of low-Reputation classes, the chance of someone recognizing
you may seem so low that there's no point worrying about it. There are ways to boost Reputation, of
course, the most obvious being the Fame feat. Unfortunately, a Reputation boost of 3 often seems a
paltry payment for one of a character's precious feats, so many heroes don't bother with it.

Another way to boost Reputation is by adding classes. Anyone can get a considerable boost by taking a
level of the noble class, and nobles can sometimes gain a bit of Reputation by adding a prestige class
(especially bounty hunter or, more likely, crimelord).

A character can also earn a better Reputation through bold play. Any action that earns the character a
Force point should also boost his Reputation (assuming someone saw it). Similarly, anything that gets
the character a dark side point is likely to increase his total Reputation (though this often leads to
being infamous, which may be more of a hindrance than a help).

Looking at our 11th-level noble again, let's see how high his Reputation could reasonably grow. Assume
he has played as heroically as possible and earned a Reputation point at every odd level. Tack on the
Fame feat at any point along the way and figure the noble took a level of crimelord (requiring that he
be infamous, though this could also be arranged with a feat). The hero's Reputation score is now 18!
Not only is he recognized regularly on any of the Core Worlds, but people have also occasionally heard
of him out on the Mid Rim.

Making Reputation Bigger

If desired, a GM can make Reputation scores a bigger part of her game quickly and easily. First, she can
allow characters to add their Charisma modifier to their Reputation (working on the assumption that
more noticeable people are generally better known). She can also increase the benefit of the Fame feat
to +5 Reputation.

But the easiest way to use Reputation is to have it come up more often. Whenever characters do
anything noteworthy in public (which occurs at least once in most Star Wars games), use the rules for
making Charisma checks to increase Reputation. Any time characters are on their homeworlds, be sure
to have them make a few Reputation checks (even if they heroes fail them all, they'll know you use the
rule and that Reputation can be important). And whenever the characters meet an important GM
character, be sure to check his Reputation to see if they've heard of him before (this is also a good way
to give basic information to the players).