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Topic: [Mask of the Emperor] Spending honor makes you look dishonorable
Started by: Abkajud
Started on: 2/21/2009
Board: First Thoughts


On 2/21/2009 at 12:59am, Abkajud wrote:
[Mask of the Emperor] Spending honor makes you look dishonorable

First real playtest session last night; good times. I posted about it over in Playtesting, go figure :)
One of the things that occurred to me was that Aloof and Dishonorable characters aren't even close to having their honor-status be "up for grabs" the way an Honorable character's is. I'm concerned that, thus far, I might be "97%-ing" (a term I heard somewhere to describe when pre-play events *almost* finish the character's take on the Premise, nearly leaving it fixed and static before play even begins) with these character types.

So a thought occurred to me - I was already going to let Honorable characters spend temporary Honor points (up to their permanent Honor rating) to gain extra dice on dice pools, at a rate of 1 Honor=2 extra dice. The catch is this: when you do so, you're abusing your own good reputation to pull a fast one on others, and so the post-dice-roll narration of the action should/must be reprehensible, grossly inappropriate, or suchlike.
Permanent Honor adds to dice pools in front of a receptive Audience of NPCs, which gives Honorable characters both an edge and something that can be risked. On the other hand, since anybody can gain temporary Honor through the end-of-session honor vote, I'd say that this gives Aloof and Honorable characters something to risk, too.

Does this seem counterintuitive? In story-plot terms, you're wrecking the reputation you've built up in a sudden impulsive act; in game-mechanic terms, a character with nothing to lose has nothing to gain, essentially, but if you build something up, you can smash it apart for a quick boost of agency.

I suppose this means that if a player steadfastly and consistently refuses temporary Honor, but the other players want to reward him for at least making it look like he follows protocol, then he should earn it; a character who'd make the Emperor proud would get that Honor, plain and simple, even if those dice stand for everything the character's against. It's perceived virtue and goodwill, and as such lacks substance beneath the surface. A character who goes out of his way to be rude, disturbing, and discomfiting towards the nobility and the Godlike Emperor, but who was still quite useful, might be provided for by the throne financially and in other rewards, but not actually given any accolades. You can be a hero that the Emperor won't really acknowledge, if you truly want to play it that way, I suppose :)

Since my two PCs are Aloof and Dishonorable respectively, I think I'll start up with the Honor vote next time around, and see where it goes. Maybe the Dishonorable noblewoman-turned-pickpocket will make a point of squandering what little rep she can gain for herself, just to flip off the establishment. That'd address Premise pretty well, I think!

Message 27620#260656

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