Too Much Fame in Modules?

[FlamingManofIron]

Hi Everyone,

I recently bought the PDF versions of all the X-crawl adventures. One of the things I've noticed is that most of them give out more fame beyond the +1 Fame/level or +1 Fame for finishing a crawl. Notably, Pheonix Crawl Open, Coney Island Crawl, the Emperor's Cup (and I think maybe a couple more?) give +10 fame.

I went through each module, and assuming a person starting at level 4 with 0 fame, with the premade adventure in the 3e handbook, and did all of the published adventures and leveled at the end of each crawl... (There are 5 Crawls or so that would have to be filled in by GM, assume 4 fame per crawl), a person who never completed a signature move, never mugged/grandstanded would have 102 fame.

If we take said person and assume 1 signature move successful per level of a crawl, and 1 fame per level of a crawl for successive mugging/grandstanding... This totals about 205 fame. Is it just me or does this seem slightly excessive? I plan on running a X-crawl campaign soon, and I do want the PCs to get rich and famous (I have some plotlines cooked up), realistically some would be hitting 100 fame by level 10 under the fame rewards given in the book. Are PC's supposed to be hitting the +100 fame mark easily?

Any ideas/suggestions would be great.

[DJ LaBoss]

Hey FMOI,

Good question!

Do you use the Xcrawl: SellOut! supplement? If you do check out the Expanded Fame rules. Once a Crawler earns 101+ points of fame, he can start turning in his normal (temporary) Fame Points for Permanent Fame Points. Permanent Fame Points represent the enduring sort of fame that top celebrities have. If you think about it, a fame score of 125 makes you the Flavor of the Month but that can all go away with a few bad decisions and a little ill luck. Exchanging your Fame for Permanent Fame Points turns you into an enduring legend, one whose name is never forgotten. To use a real world example: Denis Rodman had a huge temporary fame score at one point - now where the heck is he? But Muhammad Ali traded his fame points for Permanent Fame, and has become a cultural icon that will outlive us all.

If your players start spending Temporary Fame Points and buying Permanent Fame points the 205 Total they have will be reduced significantly and it will make for a more realistic representation of the players fame - after all, in the example you give a player who participates in four back to back major crawls without loosing any would indeed be a major star - think about a pro quaterback who not only takes his team to the Superbowl in four back to back years, but they win all four. Its quite a feat and whoever successfully did that would be one of the greatest legends of the sport.

In addition, the SellOut! Sourcebook has a system for spending fame points, on everything from being instantly recognized to making felony police charges go away to automatically winning Guild awards. It sounds like you plan on running a full campaign, including time between crawls. Be sure to give your players plenty of opportunities to spend fame points. A few scandals, a few awards or automatic sponsorships - trust me, the outgoing points add up!

I hope that helps. Let us know how your campaign goes.

be well,

Brendan

[FlamingManofIron]

DJ LaBoss,

I do have the sellout book. You have a good point about permanent fame actually. I guess it's not that much of an issue in the long haul. Again, good points about some scandals and letting them get fame to get what they want now.