Reputation System for CRPG Games

A good reputation system is something most of the gamers want but do not get. The immersion and relatability from a good reputation system is nearly unmatched . Non playing characters (NPC) reaction to player character (PC) depending on the reputation is a great system yet is neither easy nor cheap.

Writing different dialogues, creating a bunch of new branches for story, more voice acting and adding totally new outcomes for actions. These are some of the difficulties game designers can face while creating or implementing a reputation system. Surely you can use some kind of system that will only affect merchant prices easily, but with a realistic reputation system it is possible to add more depth to the story and create a more immersive world.

Implementing a reputation system needs to be done carefully. Otherwise there can be lots of problems like game breaking bugs, shortcuts to hard or vital quests and making some quests impossible to finish. Of course these things can happen but the designer should be aware of these "mechanics" or intended to them.

So what is the suggestion? Well it is neither simple nor perfect yet I will continue improving. Implementing it would be a really "interesting" job yet it will show players that their actions have real consequences not just changing the reward item for a quest.

From now on we will use 2 characters, 3 reputation types (factions) and 3 quests. Let2s start with our characters.

1: NPC Part

Reputation Types	Boom and Doom	Zeafanlotatic
White Temple	-0,1	1,2
Dark Temple	0,2
Underground Merchants	0,4

Reputation Types: The reputation our NPC cares about. Right now we are using White Temple, Dark Temple and Underground Merchants.

Boom and Doom: Our underground merchant dwarf named Boom and Doom.

Zeafanlotatic: Our paladin of White Goddess.

Multiplier: We add multipliers for each reputation type depending on NPC's demeanor. Even if our NPC has only one reputation type, like our zealous fanatic White Paladin Zeafanlotatic (great name) we still add it because two people can have the same morals or views yet their commitment to it might be different.

Our merchant dwarf is not that religious but he is thinking about the Dark Goddess when he prays. And he is not fond of White Goddess but again this is not a great deal for him.The most important one is Underground Merchant reputation for him. Please keep in mind that this is a reaction to that reputation. Not his own reputation.

Our second character is a White Goddess paladin. Zeafanlotatic has one variable which is White Temple and it is really high.  So we can state that Zeafanlotatic cares more about White Temple than Boom and Doom.

Multiplier value of  1 is equal to life. So if any NPC has a value of 1 or higher as a multiplier that means that she values that subject more than her life. It is easy to understand that Zeafanlotatic will sacrifice her life for her Goddess.

But only having a high multiplier does not lead to that path. We need action. Let's check the action part.

2: Action Part

Every relatable action (quest, attacking someone from a faction, chosen dialogue options) has a constant value. If there are 2 quests, one is saving White Goddess pilgrims from a very hard to beat boss and the other one is bringing an apple to a white cleric there will be 2 fixed values for each quest. Let's say that saving pilgrims worth 50 points, and bringing an apple worth 2 points.

Quest Name	Quest Points	First NPC Multiplier	Modified Reputation	Second NPC Multiplier	Modified Reputation
Saving Pilgrims	50	-0,1	-5	1,2	60
Bringing Apple	2	-0,1	0,2	1,2	2,4
Saving Merchants	50	0,4	20
Total Reputation			14,8		62,4

Right now we have a positive reaction from both of the NPC's because of our reputation. But what does that number mean? How will those numbers change NPC's action towards us?

3: Reaction Part

We need to have a reputation range. This will be the same for every NPC, because we already did the tuning part in the multiplier part. Of course this range can change - and should change- for every game. Because finding helpful NPC’s can be easier in one game, and really really hard in other games. Also we can create a wider range to make players "farm" more reputation if we want to. Similarly we can narrow it down to make the impact of choices more heavy. The reason we have this level system is to make the system simple. Otherwise we need to handle lots of numbers and decimals. But of course you can go with the core numbers too.

Reputation Value	Level
200+	4
150 to 200	3
100 to 149	2
50 to 99	1
-49 to 49	0
-50 to -99	-1
-100 to -149	-2
-150 to -200	-3
-200-	-4

So here we can see that we have 9 levels. Like we said before we can narrow it down or widen it depending on our scope. These levels affect 4 things.

Dialogues, Quests, Aggro, Trade.

Dialogues: Some options might be available with only relatively high reputation values. As an example we can use our fellow dwarf Boom and Doom. He will talk differently if you have 1 level reputation.

Instead of:

-Hello adventurer. I see that you are in need of some healing supplies. Those wounds do not look good.

He will say:

-In the name of our Dark Goddess, what happened to you? Let me check my inventory if I have something for you.

Nicer and more compassionate.

Quests: Some quests will be unavailable if you do not have the required reputation level. If you stole the 400 years old sacred relic from Underground Merchant Guild House and boasted about it, Boom and Doom will not offer you the quest of helping the poor families of Underground Merchants. Players will not see these options. It will create a more  immerse world. Seeing that you might have this quest but you can not -like grayed out option- will make the game more meta and the whole idea of this reputation system is making the game more immersive.

Aggro: This is self-explanatory. If you have a really low reputation with a NPC,  that NPC -or the group- will attack you. And let's say that you have a high reputation with bandits. That means that bandits will not be an enemy encounter but more likely become helpful allies.

Trade: Again this one is also simple. Use any modifier that fits with your economy. Higher reputation means better prices.

I will create a sample reputation system soon. You can check it too. Also please share your thoughts with me.

Have a great day.

Upcoming:

1) Players can do one quest for one faction ( Kill the White Goddess Priests for Black Goddess) and another one for a rival faction ( Kill the Black Goddess Priests for White Goddess). Even this adds up to neutral it should not. Solution is in process.