The Old World: Grim and Perilous

and points per session. Note that Renown
should only be awarded when someone actually
finds out about the group's actions. Good
deeds done quietly will not make the party
famous, so sometimes the increase of the Renown
will only take place after the award worthy
event has been made famous. Therefore,
parties based on archetypes with Reputation
Traits of Brave or Idealistic will have an easier
time gaining Renown, as such deeds are easily
recognizable by others, however the party will
often put themselves at risk or willfully resign
from other rewards.
Losing Renown
Similarly to gaining reputation, adventuring
parties may lose it when its members are acting
against their Reputation Traits. Whenever
this happens, the party should advance their
Party Tension Meter by at least segments
(depending on the severity of their wrongdoing).
They also lose Renown point (if they
have any) and decrease the Total Renown by
. Note that the act that causes the loss of reputation
has to be noticed by others, but the
tension increase happens independently. This
may lead to interesting stories when the PCs
did something terrible and try to hide it from
the general public, which additionally fuels
conflict between them.
Low and High Renown
Total Renown shows how famous the party
is in their field and how well known it is to
the general public. Depending on the group's
fame, both good and bad things may happen
and it also modifies the effects of some of the
party's abilities. We go into detail when describing
specific archetypes, but the general
breakdown is as follows:
Total
renown
-
-
Effects
The party is mostly unknown to anyone
outside their immediate environment.
This, for example, can lead to a
situation in which the team will not get
the job they are interested in or they
will have to prove themselves first.
The party is known in their own field
and its members may be recognized by
some passer-by.
Total
renown
-
-
+
Effects
The party is well-renowned and may be
offered special or difficult jobs. Party
members are quite often recognized by
people.
The party is among the most famous in
their respective fields. Most people have
at least heard something about them.
Absolute legends.
Note that this division is arbitrary and there
may be many deviations from it during your
game sessions. For example, a party that
helped a small village get rid of orc invaders
may be seen as heroes in that particular community,
despite having only Total Renown.
On the other hand, even a legendary group can
be completely anonymous when they are far
from their homeland.
Spending Renown
In addition to raising Total Renown, Renown
points can give your team both permanent
and temporary benefits. Below are a number
of options on which a group can spend available
Renown.
Purchasing Party Abilities
Each archetype has a set of abilities, similar
in effect to talents. The first, passive, ability
is obtained immediately after party creation,
the rest however, have to be purchased first. A
party can purchase a new ability by spending
the cost in Renown specified in its description.
The cost must be paid in full, but it is
not necessary to buy abilities in any particular
order (e.g. you can purchase an ability with a
cost of Renown before purchasing the one
for Renown). The party can activate one
ability per game session for free. Subsequent
activations require Renown to be spent. Party
abilities are always activated as an out of turn
Incidental, unless the description of the ability
states otherwise.
Additional Activation of
Party Abilities
Once per session, the party may activate a single
ability for free. A second ability (including
the first activated) may be activated by spending
Renown point. Every subsequent activa-
Chapter 10: Adventuring Party 179