Editing The Peony Chronicles:Main Page (section)

==A Note on Glory, Infamy and Status==

Glory and Infamy

Glory reflects how well-known a Hero is for performing courageous, impressive, and noteworthy deeds. Infamy reflects how well-known a Hero is for performing dishonorable, embarrassing, or criminal deeds. All characters begin the game with a Glory Rank of 1 (10 points) and an Infamy Rank of zero (unless they took Bad Reputation).

Glory and Infamy can be increased - or decreased - during play as a result of your Hero's actions, much like your Honor.

Characters gain Glory by acting courageously, skillfully, and with honor. Many adventures award Glory for success, and the GM can also make small Glory awards for exceptional deeds. On the other hand, a PC can lose Glory for failing to complete an assigned task, for committing minor breaches of etiquette, losing duels or other contests, and so forth. Glory is also lost for inactivity - any time a PC completes an adventure without gaining any Glory, the PC instead loses 1 Glory point. (However, this cannot lower the PC's Glory Rank below their Insight Rank.)

Glory can never be lower than zero, and can never rise higher than rank 10.

PCs gain points of Infamy by committing dishonorable, cruel, disgusting, or criminal deeds, such as stealing or getting caught in a lie. Even if the PC manages to avoid any direct legal or social consequences for the act, some Infamy may still accrue, as the PC becomes known in the Empire for his/her unpleasant acts. Infamy is awarded by the GM, based on a player's actions. Some adventures may also award Infamy for specific bad acts.

Once a PC acquires Infamy, it does not go away unless an adventure specifically awards a reduction. There is no upper limit on how much Infamy a PC can gain.

Consequences of Infamy
If a Clan or Imperial character's Infamy rises too high, others of higher rank will take notice and punish the character for behaving too disgracefully. For a normal character, the "cut-off" for this is if the PC's Infamy exceeds the combined total of the PC's Glory and Status. However, Mantis and Tortoise PCs get more leeway - they are not penalized until their Infamy exceeds the combined total of their Glory and their Status x2. Scorpion PCs get more leeway still - they are not penalized until their Infamy exceeds the combined total of their Glory x2 and their Status x2.

A PC whose Infamy rises too high will be expelled from their family/Clan, becoming ronin. This will, however, have a side benefit - since their social status has dropped, they are less widely recognized, and their Infamy drops by one Rank.

Ronin can accumulate any amount of Infamy. However, having a high Infamy as a ronin can be hazardous. If a ronin's infamy ever reaches or exceeds Rank Six, they will become a wanted criminal and have a Bounty placed on their heads, making them a target for every Magistrate and Wasp in the Empire.

Status

While Glory represents how famous a character is, Status represents the character's rank and position in the Celestial Order. Normally, all PCs start with a Status of 1.0, except for Minor Clan and Vassal Family PCs (who start with 0.5).

The Social Position advantage increases a character's starting Status by one rank (10 points). No PC may purchase more than one Rank of Social Position at character generation.

The disadvantage "Social Disadvantage" normally reduces a character's Status by five (5) points.

During play, a character can gain (or lose) Status in the same manner as Glory and Honor. However, Status changes are generally much rarer than changes in those other stats. A character who is reduced to ronin loses all Status until and unless the character is accepted into a new Clan.

Status is very important in social and legal interactions in Rokugan. Generally speaking, lower-Status characters are expected to defer to those of higher Status, and in legal cases the testimony of those with higher Status is given more weight.