Reputation - how to assign?

[GWJ]

Like in the title - how to guesstimate Reputation for NPCs (and PCs?)? When it would be reasonable to give some reputation for a character?

I love Social Engineering books - are there any similar sources about reputation, as there are for Ranks etc.?

[Dalin]

Originally Posted by GWJ

Like in the title - how to guesstimate Reputation for NPCs (and PCs?)? When it would be reasonable to give some reputation for a character?

With only four ranks, I tend to reserve +4/-4 for pretty rare types. Consider one of the example of the Green Dragon (B28). He's a crime-fighting superhero earning a -4 reaction from criminals. This makes sense. He is basically their nemesis. Extrapolating from there, criminals might react to famously dedicated cops at a -3. Regular cops at -2 or -1 (well-known goody-two-shoes citizens might get -1 too). Crooked cops and accomplished thugs maybe a +1 or +2. Crime bosses and badass crooks get a +3. I'd reserve +4 for legendary criminals and the heads of major criminal organizations: Al Capone, Keyser Söze, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, etc.

I wouldn't overthink it. The party runs into a merchant who is well-known as a fair dealer... give him +1 or +2 and move on.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by GWJ

Like in the title - how to guesstimate Reputation for NPCs (and PCs?)? When it would be reasonable to give some reputation for a character?

For Talents, Reputations, and other leveled traits, it's useful to thing in terms of "orders of magnitude." That is, a +/-1 Reputation is going to be at least x10 times more common than a +/-2 rep.

For Reputations, things get easier if you factor in Group Size for people affected by the Reputation.

Frex, a +/-1 Rep for some characteristic is not uncommon, and might be quite common if it only applies to a Small Group (effectively turning it into a Perk or Quirk).

+/-2 Reps should be much rarer, especially if they apply to anything other than a Large Group.

+/-3 Reps, esp. those which apply to anything other than a "Large Group" should be extremely rare.

+/-4 Reps, especially those which apply to Everyone, should be extremely rare and reserved for people who are so important and well-known that they're legendary.

[vicky_molokh]

For starters, one should pay attention not to conflate reputation magnitude (level) and reputation coverage (probability of recognition × group applicability).

A magnitude of +4 isn't really all that much - it's less than the maximum modifier of good Appearance (+6 for humans at preferred Handsome/Beautiful). Conversely, the -4 is more than the minimum modifier for bad Appearance (-6 for Horrific). So don't worry too much about reaching the upper or lower cap - there are probably lots of people who reach either within their affected demographics.

It's more complicated with coverage. There's probably less than 200 people across all time that are individually recognised by the whole world regardless of region or other demographic (and even that is neglecting isolated demographics which are unaware but are unlikely to ever be met in a game). There are surely much more who are only recognised by specific regions, or professions-hobbies-and-interests, or something like that. Or those which are spread throughout the demographics of the world, but whose recognition is still a coinflip within those demographics. Generally, the more memetically focused the affected demographic (such as a single nation, a subculture, a connected profession etc.), the more plausible are reputation that have 100% or near-100% chances of recognition.

[Michele]

I'd work it the other way around, for PCs. The player wants his character to be somewhat known and positively reacted to, fine. Talk with the player about what exactly he desires, work out with him a backstory that fits, and assess the level and point value.

For NPCs, the word you used says it all: guesstimate. Then adjust according to the desired effect in the encounter with the PCs.