Fame, Power, & Sanity

Ability scores are a good measure of a character’s basic strengths and weaknesses, but they don’t address some important components of a character’s makeup. Gamemasters are often confronted with situations in which a character’s natural talents should be overshadowed by other elements of his or her identity. For example, a high-ranking noble with a very ordinary Charisma score might rely on his social status to overawe a common footman and gain admittance to a banquet. Likewise, a pit fighter famed for a hundred bloody kills in the arena might be soft-spoken or unassuming in personal interactions, but street thugs who recognize him or her might flee the encounter on sight. Fame and Power are therefore presented here as additional “ability scores.”

Initial Scores: Determine Fame, Power, and Sanity scores the same way you determine other ability scores. If you use an ability array, add 13, 11, and 9 to the scores to be assigned. If you use a point-buy system, add 10 to the number of points they can spend. (If you only use Fame and Power but not Sanity, instead add two 11’s to the array or 5 to the number of points to spend.)

Modify the scores as shown in the following table. (Initial character level refers to what level your character is when you begin the campaign.)

Fame & Power vs. Charisma

The new abilities presented here are most useful when interacting with NPCs, which means that they sometimes replace Charisma checks. That’s okay–plenty of extremely dangerous high-level fighters can’t make an intimidation check to save their lives, because they simply don’t have a good Charisma score. Fame and Power let you separate a character’s authority and reputation from his or her personal charm, because they shouldn’t always be the same thing.

Gaining and Losing Power

Just like Fame, Power can’t be improved with normal ability score increases. Instead, Power improves with specific events, as shown below. Characters can also “buy” Power by spending time and money to set up networks of hirelings, informants, or valuable contacts.

• The character spends 1,000 sp and 10 days of free time buying influence (+1 Power, one time only).
• The character gains a title or position of minor authority (+1 Power).
• The character builds a stronghold or gains a position of moderate authority (+2 Power).
• The character gains followers (+2 Power).
• The character spends 5,000 sp and 30 days of free time buying influence (+2 Power, one time only).
• The character gains the ability to call a horde or army, or gains a position of great authority (+3 Power).
• The character spends 25,000 sp and 90 days of free time buying influence (+3 Power, one time only).

A character’s maximum Power score is 20. Characters lose Power if they lose positions, titles, or strongholds that granted increases of Power.

Power Checks

Ability checks against Power are useful for testing whether a character can get something done purely through the weight of his or her title and the reach of his or her family or organization. Examples include:

• Directing local authorities to guard a location (or leave it unguarded).
• Arranging the release of a prisoner.
• Getting a royal councilor to propose a favorable law.
• Banishing a rival or malefactor from one’s tribe.
• Getting a distant tribe to search their lands for a fugitive.
• Using your position to gain someone’s cooperation (you can use Power as the base ability for Power/Intimidation or Power/Persuasion checks).

Power Saving Throws

Like Fame saving throws, Power saves are rare. Most uses of Power are applications of skill and training, not the sort of in-the-moment test a saving throw represents. You might call for a Power save when circumstances do not allow a character to prepare for the test—for example, when the character suddenly needs to defy an arrest order or resist a NPC’s use of Power.

Gaining and Losing Sanity

Characters naturally improve Sanity over time; adventurers are made of stern stuff, and a lifetime of daring escapes and victories over savage foes helps to prepare them for the day when they meet something horribly abnormal. Sanity cannot be improved with normal ability score increases, and like other scores, maxes out at 20. Unlike other scores, Sanity can sometimes dip below 1; characters at 0 Sanity are insane. Sanity is gained or lost for the following:

• Gain a level or go one year without being exposed to a Sanity save (gain 1d2–1 Sanity).
• Fail a Sanity save (–1, –1d4, or –1d6 Sanity for the first, second, or third failed Sanity save in the same day).
• A restoration spell of 2nd level or higher restores 1 Sanity lost within the last day.
• A restoration spell of 5th level or higher restores 2d4 lost Sanity (but cannot increase Sanity above the character’s previous maximum).

Sanity Checks

Characters rarely make ability checks against their Sanity scores. e Sanity score is purely a measure of resistance to madness.

Sanity Saving Throws

Characters who encounter profound shocks to their sense of what is right and normal in the world may be required to make a Sanity save. Situations calling for a Sanity save include:

• Encountering an aberration, undead, or extraterrene creature for the first time (DC 8).
• Seeing an ally defeated by an aberration, undead, or extraterrene creature (DC 8).
• Being charmed by an aberration, undead, or extraterrene creature (DC 8).
• Witnessing alien or unwholesome magic (DC 5 + spell level).
• Exposure to an alien environment (DC 10).
• Hearing or seeing a Great Old One at a distance (DC 10).
• Exposure to a profoundly abnormal alien environment (DC 15).
• Encountering a Great Old One (DC 15, double Sanity loss on failure).