Rule: Social bonds & Reputations

Social bonds

• Social Bonds can be forged by a Downtime (Socializing), through the use of certain Abilities, and also created at your GM’s discretion.
• A Bond describes the nature of a relationship. They can be friendly, romantic, professional, or competitive.
  For example, ‘a cherished friendship’ or ‘a respectful rivalry’.
• You can have Bonds with an unlimited number of people, but only have one Bond at a time with a specific individual.
• Your Social Bond with an individual can change again by a Downtime (Socializing) or when the GM decides the relationship has taken a turn.

• A Companion gain a Minor Bonus (+2) on all Loyalty Check and Downtime (Recruitment) Contest.
• By default, a Bond does not grant any bonus between players, but the GM can decides that a Bond grant a bonus on a specific roll when there's a high risk of death involved.
  For example, if a ‘a cherished friend’ lost consciousnesses underwater and is about to die, the GM could grant you a Minor Bonus (+2) to a Strength Check to pull him out to save his life.
• Some Abilities require a Bond between individuals to work.

Reputations

• Your GM can define a local Reputation for each player when word, or a witness, of your exploits reaches a Settlement.
• A Reputation may extend to neighboring Settlements if there is frequent interaction between them.
• A Reputation describes a community’s opinion of you.
  For example, ‘well-meaning but incompetent’ or ‘untrustworthy but effective’.
• You benefit from a Minor Bonus (+2) for all rolls where your local Reputation works in your favor and a Minor Penalty (-2) when it works against you.
• Reputations can draw the attention of influential person and group operating in the local area. In this case, your GM will decide if they’ll seek your help or want to stop your annoying meddling.
• You can attempt to engineer your Reputations by doing a Downtime (Reputation Management), but you must compete with any existing one.