Examples
Berthomeu's example, to make sure we understood everything…
Let's come back to Berthomeu's example, already seen in that chapter…
One remembers Berthomeu having Got (such) a Nerve! as a Privateer Captain, as well as already his share of - not yet legendary though - Fame in the islands of the region for wrecking ships… Well, Berthomeu – having managed to convince his Crew to head right through the storm to catch up with a merchant ship and board it successfully on the next day – managed the operation brilliantly for that timevand his Fame will probably increase after such an examplary Piloting. Let's see how and how far. His total Fame being equal to 270 (one Skull), his Fame for « The Wardroom » to 85 (two Skulls) and his Fame linked to « Better-Off Ridiculed Than Hanged » totalling to 12 (one Skull), his Level of Fame is: Maximum of (1, 2) = two Skulls minus one - because his Speciality in Shipwrecking should be taken into account in the considered situation - hence finally one Skull. If the action can, generally speaking, be considered as Difficult, it is also perceived as such by the Crew which didn't see in a favourable light the crossing of the storm aboard the Margarita… The Crew of the Ship but soon also the survivors of the boarding and maybe after a while the inhabitants of the closest harbours will talk and hear about the story. One can thus consider a multiplicator of two, regarding the public touched by the news about the action… That point can be discussed but it is always possible to compute the gain (or the loss) of Fame now to take it into account only some time later, when rumour will have had its effect… As a result, the Fame multiplicator of Berthomeu for that action is x2 x1 x1 = x2 in case of Success and x2 x1 /2 = x1 in case of Failure. If Berthomeu got a Normal Success, his Fame total increases by 2 x2 = 4 points. It increases by 4 x2 = 8 points in case of Critical Success. In case of Normal Failure, the Fame total would increase by 1 x1 = 1, in case of Critical Failure, by 3 x1 = 3 points. The gained points will probably be applied to « The Wardroom » Group on the line « Fame – Experience » while points which would have been gained in case of Failure would have rather been accounted for by increasing the score on « Fame – Experience » of the « Better-Off Ridiculed Than Hanged » Group… In all cases, do not forget to modify the Total of Fame in the « Experience & Fame » box.And a last one for the road!
Another example will not be too much to well understand how the Fame system works. One remembers maybe – if not, check it! – the arm-wrestling between Joe el Oscuro and Phil el Rosso…
Joe el Oscuro (Strength 9) and Phil el Rosso (Strength 10 but with some pints in advance), Malus –2 on the Mastery Level) are confronting each other in the last round of an Arm Wrestling contest organised at the Tavern of the Old Shady, Tortuga Island, Harbour Dregs. The stakes are enormous for each of them two, the titel of the Biggest Arm of the Old Shady and even more important: free drinks until the end of the night!… The duel last a good while and finished on the victory of Joe el Oscuro, the outsider! Joe had before the competition a Fame of 170 in total and of 45 « At the Tavern », thus respectively zero and one Skull. Phil el Rosso, more battle-hardened (but also more grogged…), had a Fame of 215 (one Skull) in totaland of 54 « At the Tavern » (again one Skull). None of them had a Skull in « Better-Off Ridiculed Than Hanged ». The « Publicity » multiplicator is x2 because, though it is only a Tavern, that arm-wrestling competition is known in all the city. Because of the gap of Level and Fame between the two competitors, the public tends to consider that the duel was Difficult for Joe el Oscuro and Quite easy for Phil el Rosso. All in all, both opponents have quite similar Fame magnitudes, both having one Skull for the Skill Group (Local Fame). The victory of Joe became evident at the end but the match was quite tight for a long time: it's been nothing like a crushing victory, much more a victory in sweat… One can thus judge that the respective results are a Normal Success and a Normal Failure. As a result, Joe el Oscuro wins 2 x2 x1 x1 = 4 points of Fame, which will very likely be added to the « At the Tavern » Group, except if the Game Master considers he has a painful defeat to let forget, in which case he will maybe partly reduce his Fame in « Better-Off Ridiculed Than Hanged »… As for Phil el Rosso, whose defeat is not so catastrophical, he gains 1 x2 x2 /2 = 2 points of Fame, to be dispatched in his Fame level of the sections « Better-Off Ridiculed Than Hanged » or « At the Tavern ».