Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
If your Reputation was -3 because you're a clown who makes his business mocking Sky Pirates in the national media, I wouldn't give you a bonus on Intimidation. But I would probably give you a +3 on an Acting check to convince a group of Sky Pirates that you're a harmless buffoon not worth guarding closely while held captive. They don't LIKE you, but your Reputation is that you're a clown, not a fierce adventurer.
Since it's -3 because you're a fierce and dangerous foe of Sky Pirates, I would give you the +3 when threatening Sky Pirates (and after that T-Rex stunt, a +3 to Fast Talk that your dinosaur armies are on their way to overrun their secret base). But a penalty to convince them that you're a harmless buffoon who doesn't need guards :)
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On the other hand, a penalty is a penalty, and he got points for it. It might make more sense to say that it doesn't apply at all, not because he isn't scary, but because the sky pirates hate him so damn much that they're likely to keep fighting him anyway. In any case, because it's a negative reputation, it will tend to prevent him from getting what he wants. It's a disadvantage, after all, and thus should generally hamper him.
In my samurai game, we have a ninja who has a +4 reputation because he's just so scary that people generally give him what he want, retreat from him in battle, and generally react in a way that's beneficial to him. I don't think we should look at positive reputation as "nice" or "disliked" and negative reputation as "sinister" or "disliked", but rather, a positive reputation tends to get you what you want, and a negative one tends to prevent you from getting what you want.