Reputation Mod: Donate to Talos and get -1 reputation

booinyoureyes

I saw a conversation a player had on this forum about a problem with his Blackguard's reputation being to low. He solved it by donating to a temple, and I jokingly said that his jerkface Blackguards probably donated to the Temple of Talos.

Yet now I'm thinking that this is a good idea rather than just a joke. People see to have problems being evil. I think a cool mod would be one that allows this. It should be VERY expensive in order to not ruin the balance but this would make sense from a role-playing perspective while also giving people a little more convenience time playing evil. Similar to the bard rep drop from the BG1 NPC Project mod.

nano

I like that idea. But why does it need to be expensive? You can drop your reputation for free, after all. I guess it costs a life but the important thing is that it's not your life.

booinyoureyes

Well, if you are Lawful Evil you probably wouldn't want the hassle of having the cops after you. So for roleplaying it would make sense. I'd like it to be cheaper too, but I want to have some trade-off. Otherwise people will be like "oh em geez that is soooooo broken"

Severon

If I recall, the BG1NPC Project mod had the ability to put Bards in each major Inn which would spread tales of your terror at a cost in orde to reduce reputation.

Silverstar

I like the gist of the idea... but isn't Talos worship perfectly valid and acceptable? Would being a devout talonite lessen the general populace's opinion of you? Also I fail to see how it would ruin any kind of balance (balance in a single-player game?) to lessen your reputation for a fee compared to raising it. Raising your reputation has benefits in the form of better prices in stores, better reaction from most NPCs and happier Good companions. Lowering your reputation has the benefit of Evil companions not running off... if one of these should be expensive, it's not the one that only has one benefit.

booinyoureyes

Yep. I mentioned it at the end of the comment. It was a great idea and made sense role-play-wise. I'd be happy with that too.

I feel like a. there is more to being evil than slaughtering people and b. evil characters like a Kagain, Viconia or Edwin should not be opposed to the party's benevolence when it is profitable for them.

I mean... I feel like Viconia would LOVE if the parties reputation is high since it would make her life among surfacers much easier.

booinyoureyes

Silverstar said:

I like the gist of the idea... but isn't Talos worship perfectly valid and acceptable? Would being a devout talonite lessen the general populace's opinion of you? Also I fail to see how it would ruin any kind of balance (balance in a single-player game?) to lessen your reputation for a fee compared to raising it. Raising your reputation has benefits in the form of better prices in stores, better reaction from most NPCs and happier Good companions. Lowering your reputation has the benefit of Evil companions not running off... if one of these should be expensive, it's not the one that only has one benefit.

Good points...
I do think that the evil characters are MUCH stronger (Best mage? best cleric? best tank? now best thief?) But I really don't care about anything being "overpowered", but it seems like people are obsessed with the idea and find powerful mods cheesy.

Perhaps it would be better to make it a Cleric of Cyric? Like that loon in the Slums who is some sort of evil, vile version of a Jahova's Witness?

Or even better.... TIAX

nano

In the spirit of "profitable evil" I think you should be able to shake down local businesses and trade 1 rep for some gold. You can try it on bigger stores as well but you may end up facing down their guards instead.

As Silver says higher rep is generally a good thing and it'd be kind of hard to explain to Kagain why you're giving away money at all, even if it's for an evil cause.

I wouldn't worry about it being overpowered, as long it's a good concept it'll have followers and gold is not exactly rare. Plus this provides some reason for Lawful Evil characters to do "good" quests, because it lets them get away with more extortion

KidCarnival

booinyoureyes said:

Well, if you are Lawful Evil you probably wouldn't want the hassle of having the cops after you. So for roleplaying it would make sense. I'd like it to be cheaper too, but I want to have some trade-off. Otherwise people will be like "oh em geez that is soooooo broken"

Low rep already has a price tag attached; in the form of shop prices. I don't see how it would be broken if reducing rep followed the same scale as increasing it.

Shin

nano said:

I like that idea. But why does it need to be expensive? You can drop your reputation for free, after all. I guess it costs a life but the important thing is that it's not your life.

Later on in BG2 I believe you can also turn into the slayer at will for a repeated reputation drop, circumnavigating even that kind of insignificant cost.

booinyoureyes

Shin said:

nano said:

I like that idea. But why does it need to be expensive? You can drop your reputation for free, after all. I guess it costs a life but the important thing is that it's not your life.

Later on in BG2 I believe you can also turn into the slayer at will for a repeated reputation drop, circumnavigating even that kind of insignificant cost.

That's waaaayyyy late though considering the length of chapters 1 and 2

KidCarnival said:

booinyoureyes said:

Well, if you are Lawful Evil you probably wouldn't want the hassle of having the cops after you. So for roleplaying it would make sense. I'd like it to be cheaper too, but I want to have some trade-off. Otherwise people will be like "oh em geez that is soooooo broken"

Low rep already has a price tag attached; in the form of shop prices. I don't see how it would be broken if reducing rep followed the same scale as increasing it.

I personally agree

Silverstar

booinyoureyes said:

Perhaps it would be better to make it a Cleric of Cyric?

Or even better.... TIAX

However you'd go about it, the idea of having a way to lower reputation by means of throwing money at it the way the good guys gets to, is a good one.

booinyoureyes said:

who is some sort of evil, vile version of a Jahova's Witness?

Hahahahahah!

CrevsDaak

booinyoureyes said:

That's waaaayyyy late though considering the length of chapters 1 and 2

You must be kidding me...

Schneidend

nano said:

In the spirit of "profitable evil" I think you should be able to shake down local businesses and trade 1 rep for some gold. You can try it on bigger stores as well but you may end up facing down their guards instead.

As Silver says higher rep is generally a good thing and it'd be kind of hard to explain to Kagain why you're giving away money at all, even if it's for an evil cause.

I wouldn't worry about it being overpowered, as long it's a good concept it'll have followers and gold is not exactly rare. Plus this provides some reason for Lawful Evil characters to do "good" quests, because it lets them get away with more extortion

I think shaking down merchants is the most sensible idea for a rep lowering mechanic. Evil does need more perks, and paying Bards to make you sound scary seems foolish. It could get do-gooders on your ass needlessly.