Backgrounds and Reputation question

[SaveVersus]

The backgrounds in the player's guide have reputation modifiers.

If a player chooses any other background (CRB, other books), does that mean their modifier is zero?

[James Jacobs]

SaveVersus wrote:

The backgrounds in the player's guide have reputation modifiers.

If a player chooses any other background (CRB, other books), does that mean their modifier is zero?

We've got some similar things coming up in future Adventure Paths, so while I didn't write or develop Sky King's Tomb (and please correct me if I'm wrong, John!), my take would be that a player who chooses another background won't get any reputation modifiers at all. These modifiers aren't meant to be "load bearing" (you should still be able to reach the maximum intended reputation in the adventure if you make the right choices and do the correct things to bolster those reputations), but these early bonuses do give the party a head start on reaching those maximums, and are intended to not only do precisely that but to let the readers of the player's guides know that those reputations are an element in the campaign they're about to play, so even if they pick different backgrounds they'll know that those are in the upcoming game.

[SaveVersus]

Thanks for the clarification.

The rules say you can't drop below -4, but the only background to offer negative reputation is Child of Notoriety (-1). That would mean everyone would have to choose the same background, which although possible, hasn't ever happened in my group.

Obviously, by GM's Fiat I could make Charlatan or Criminal (CRB) a bad thing and award negative reputation, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't already mentioned somewhere and I missed it. :-)

[John Compton]

James has it right. Other backgrounds will very likely have a +0 modifier, though your GM might decide that some have a different modifier. For example, the Criminal background could easily have a –1 or –2 modifier. And as both James and the Player's Guide note, events in the adventure will have a much bigger impact on the group's Reputation than their starting score.

[SatiricalBard]

What I like to do in these situations is merge a standard background with a campaign background.

So they get the ability boosts, skills, etc from the regular background, and the connection to the story, NPCs, and (for this AP) reputation points from the campaign background.