The Old World: Grim and Perilous

and take on challenges that align with their
beliefs. Their actions are often calculated
and well thought out, but they are not
afraid to take risks in the pursuit of a greater
good. Idealistic parties will earn Renown
for making selfless sacrifices, performing
acts of kindness, and using their abilities to
help those in need. They often bring a sense
of hope and inspiration to those around
them, and are respected for their unwavering
commitment to their values.
• Ruthless: Ruthless groups are known for
their uncompromising pursuit of their
goals, no matter the cost. They are infamous
for their shrewd and heartless nature, taking
advantage of any opportunity to further
their interests. Whether it's for personal
gain or to advance their plans, they are not
afraid to take extreme measures, including
using blackmail, violence and intimidation.
Ruthless parties will earn Renown for their
spectacular, yet cold blooded actions like assassinating
a rival leader, kidnapping and
ransom of influential individuals, destroying
or sabotaging rival factions' resources,
raiding and pillaging enemy territories.
Note that most of the time the Brave and Conservative
traits, as well as Idealistic and Ruthless
are contradictory, so you should not create
a party based on those pairs if you don't have a
good reason to do so.
Further explanation the of effects of Reputation
Traits are described later in the chapter.
Every adventuring party has a reputation,
depending on the chosen archetype and expressed
in Reputation Traits. This reputation
determines the framework in which the party
will operate and imposes societal expectations
on its members. For example, mercenaries are
usually expected to be brave, while bandits
should be ruthless. After all, no-one will take
a mercenary group seriously with a reputation
for cowardice, and overly forgiving gangsters
will quickly lose influence and territory. Maintaining
the party's reputation and acting in
accordance with its requirements will earn its
members fame (or infamy!), respect, and may
bring them closer to certain people or assignments,
as well as sometimes bring additional
troubles. You will find some examples later in
this chapter, in the description of each of the
party archetypes.
Gaining Renown
Whenever a party acts in accordance to their
Reputation Traits and does something big,
spectacular or something that significantly
brings them closer to achieving their goals, the
Game Master may decide to reward the party
with a point of Renown. Every point of Renown
increases the party's Total Renown and
also may be spent to activate various effects
we explain later in the chapter. It is up to the
GM's discretion if something is worthy of a Renown
point, but we advise to reward between
Party's Reputation
178 The Old World: Grim and Perilous