Intro to Points of Renown PR

[bluedragon]

Points of Renown (PR) System
Crimson Empire 2nd Edition develops the Points of Renown System and changes most conventional gaming preconceptions.
Players can either progress an individual through the PR system or progress an Order or Faction, occasionally at the detriment of the individual character (Darkuns are a good example of this).
The two gaming styles are perfectly compatible but allow for a very different gaming experience.
Knights for example through their individual actions will no doubt progress their order. However the main aim for this type of character is to progress an individual by gaining renown through heroic deeds and receiving support and "sponsorship" from their order. This can come in the form of a better warhorse, superior weaponry and armour through to retainers and money.
Darkuns are characters who are expected to perish fast, not without "going with a bang" though as this would have the opposite effect on their Faction. Players who choose to create Darkuns know that they have chosen the "time-bomb" option and that their character's days are numbered.
What is the incentive for killing your character off? Well, by dying with glory for the Temple, the Darkun character progresses the status of the Faction. Fear is a powerful weapon against the Empire. This creates a new type of situation in the game as you have conventional characters all trying to progress and better themselves and a handful of demented individuals who really don't care who they take with them. It allows for some really heroic situations to arise, where players push the limits of their characters to new levels. Probability would normally dictate that they should really not be throwing themselves up against 12 hardened Imperial Knights, but the outcome could potentially surprise everyone. In any case, even if the Darkun was to die after having taken-out 4 Knights, they would be remembered on both sides of the conflict for their action.
What is important to note is that if a player recreates a character from the same Order, Faction etc. as their previous character then they can start off with a "head start" of PR. Basically the MT rewards roleplaying and background efforts from players.

Example: A Darkun character from the Scorpion Faction has been awarded with 17 PR over 6 gaming sessions. They perish after 5 minutes gaming in the 7th session. The player decides to recreate a Scorpion as they had so much fun being ultra evil and careless with their life.

1. The player creates the younger brother of the previous character and submits this to the MT for a PR transfer: they get 1 PR to start off with.

2. The player creates the younger brother but this time provides 6 pages of background story to explain their relationship and how they grew up together: the character gets 5 PR to reward them for their effort.

Basically Orders, Factions etc. have Renown Pools (RP) that can be used to redistribute PR amongst PCh's and NPCh's.

[daveceaser]

I think I understand the basics of Points of Renown, but there are still a few things I don't really understand. If a character has built up 17 points of renown, then the character dies in the glory of their temple, then the player creates a new character and writes up six pages of background, why would they get only five points of renown? Why would a player be willing to loose their character with 17 points only to get another with only a third of what they had before? Also, I really don't understand the tangible benefits of have 17 points of renown. Is it a vague value of how famous the character or their faction is? If so, how much makes an unknown character, a respected one, a famous one, and a living legend? As a Master of Tales, how do I use these points in game? Can they be converted into something else? Can they be used to improve a character some way or if that character dies, be used to improve their replacement character? In the example above, the knight with high personal renown is getting cool stuff from their faction who is noticing them. What does a character (or the larger faction) get if the factions points of renown go up? What does it mean to invest it in the faction and not the character?

I'm sorry for all the questions. I like this setting and the system quite a bit, there are just a few things I'm still not clear about.