[daniel_gudman]

My feeling is... have the players build characters according to where they came from; eg, a wizard respected in Magetopia would buy "social regard" (maybe at reduced price if Magetopia is small), regardless of how wizards are considered in Imperial Paranoialand (although if IP is huge it might also affect "social regard" in Magetopia). So, I haven't said anything different than anyone else.

But, it's not just about reaction roles, it's also about how the character feels about society and their role therein. A character that is "well regarded" has a different self image than a character that is "feared and distrusted". I mean, if it's something completely outside of the character, that's not part of them at all, that's not really different than the reaction modifiers they get for being dressed really well. That's equipment, not character points.

But, that dissonance between "accustomed role in home society" and "normal role in this society" is analogous to a great sword-master without a sword, or with the wrong sword, etc. It's not like the skills and abilities are gone, they're just in a non-optimal situation.

It's Crisis and Opportunity. I'd let players turn these problems into interesting encounters that get rewarded with character points for development. In terms of point accounting, it's an investment that pays dividends rather than delivering value now.