Hi there 
I was wondering - what's your take on the character reputation by level?
I mean at what level would you say that a PC becomes well-known for his combat abilities?
I have a hard time balancing it, since i love humanoid villians, but if a lvl 4 PC is already reknown for his combat abilities, it would be wierd if there continued to be equally powerful humanoid NPCs at higher levels, without the players having heard about them.
Reputation and skill are not inherently linked.
Reputation and how publicly you show your skill are.
Example: I know guys that have been the one in a 10 on 1 brawl and won, but only like 15 people in the whole world were present and almost none of them shared the details of the story with anyone else - and on the counter point is that there are people who make their living by fighting, and they want people to talk about them and their fighting prowess because that is what sells tickets, and ticket sales is a big part of how the fighter can actually make a living.
You're right about that..
But on a related note then..
A powerful lords most trusted bodyguard for example..
What level would you make him?
Or the champion of a knight tournament?
Or the leader of a big ring of thieves?
Or the most notorious gladiator at a large colloseum?
How powerful would you say a lvl 5 char is?
And a lvl 10 and so on?
And yes i know that the king could be a lvl 1 nobleman, but the positions where your fighting skills are important they could not.
Raijin411 wrote:
For a quick and dirty reputation gauge, consider the Tiers of Play in the DMG.
1-4 local heroes: the fate of a village might hang on their success or failure
5-10 heroes of the realm: ...a region...
11-16 masters of the realm: ...a nation...
17-20 masters of the world: ...the world and beyond!
Just because the fate of XXX lies in their hands doesn't mean everyone in the area knows about the characters, but it's a vague enough guideline to work from. Anything mechanical would tread on a DM's storytelling territory. In instances where PCs tried to leverage their reputation, I sometimes just go along with it ("Yes, and..."), other times I remind the player it's a really big damn world. I've occasioanlly rolled dice if I feel like letting dice determine the outcome. If you really want a mechanic for it, try 2% per level, roll under to be known. Hardly a realistic gauge to account for every single NPC in the world having heard of a character, but simple enough.
Raijin411 wrote: