Honorifics

Honorifics are titles or nicknames that a character or a ship earns, representing their reputation within the world of The Expanse Roleplaying Game . They are a form of reward that characters gain for their deeds, or even simply due to rumours about them.

Purpose and Nature

• Public Standing: Honorifics measure a character's or ship's public standing . For bounty hunters, reputation is crucial for attracting clients, while a poor reputation can make finding work difficult. Similarly, a planetary surveyor's or scout's reputation affects job offers, and for traders and smugglers, reputation is their "lifeblood", influencing access to legitimate or high-risk jobs. An Entertainer can have VIP Access for their ship due to their celebrity status, reducing fees and repair times.
• Influence and Access: They can be leveraged to smooth social interactions or gain access to resources and opportunities otherwise out of reach. For example, a journalist's press identifier broadcasts their credentials, flagging them as a non-combatant and reducing their chances of arrest or being shot.
• Situational: Honorifics are potent but situational. A champion athlete's fame in sports may not help in a political debate unless directly related. The GM has the final say on when an honorific applies mechanically.
• Dynamic: They are rarely permanent and can fade or change based on conflicting evidence or new actions. They don't even need to be entirely deserved or true.

Gaining and Losing Honorifics

• Acquisition: Honorifics usually arise from a character's actions in play. Characters can choose a reputation (honorific) as an improvement from their character's drive during creation.
• Maintenance/Change: Characters can spend time during interludes performing the "Reputation" activity to bolster, diminish, or create a new honorific. This often involves making their actions known, such as giving interviews or broadcasting videos. The GM decides when a character has done enough to gain or lose a specific reputation; System-wide notoriety might require more than a few interludes to influence .
• Ability Test (Optional): A Game Master may require a Communication (Expression or Performing) test to measure the effectiveness of efforts to influence reputation.

Types of Honorifics and their Mechanical Effects

Honorifics provide mechanical benefits, often tied to ability tests. Conversely, bad reputations reverse these benefits into penalties, and can be eliminated through "Reputation" interlude activities.

1. Personal Reputation: When a character invokes their honorific (or the story of how they gained it), opponents suffer a -1 penalty on opposed tests against them, particularly when the test involves the character's famed skill or natural ability.
   • Bad Personal Reputation: Opponents gain a +1 bonus on opposed tests.
2. Supportive Reputation: When others (friends or foes) talk up a character's title, the character gains a +2 bonus to rolls demonstrating their known abilities in that scene.
   • Bad Supportive Reputation: Relevant test target numbers increase by +2 for the character.
3. Inspired Reputation: Using an honorific outside its typical field (an "inspired purpose") grants a +1 bonus to the Drama Die result when the player demonstrates clever use of the honorific for an aim.
   • Bad Inspired Reputation: Tests in relevant areas suffer a -1 penalty to the stunt points generated on the Drama Die.
4. Passive Reputation: In social situations where a group or individual is aware of the reputation, the character benefits from a free, single-step attitude shift (positive or negative) in the direction suited to their reputation.
   • Bad Passive Reputation: Tends to worsen attitudes and can lead to increased scrutiny from authorities.

Reputation Spread (RS)

The impact of a reputation is only meaningful if others have heard of it. Reputation Spread is a dynamic rating (0–5) that tracks how far your reputation has travelled across the system.

Ship Honorifics

Ships, like characters, can also gain reputations and honorifics based on their history and their crew's collective actions. These can inspire respect or fear.

• Ship honorifics have the same four categories (Personal, Supportive, Inspired, Passive) with similar mechanical effects as character honorifics.
• Some ship honorifics are historical facts, like a former name or captain, which might provide narrative flavour but no mechanical benefit or even a detriment.

Examples of Honorifics

• The Absolute: A paragon of a sub-culture or cause, beloved by allies and attacked by opponents. (e.g., Absolute Professional for Bounty Hunters)
• Bane of the Belt: For those who crusade against pirates and OPA terrorists.
• Champion Athlete: A star in their chosen sport.
• Destined for Greatness: Character succeeds beyond expectations, creating rivals.
• Expert in the Field: Recognised for knowledge and achievements in a professional pursuit. (e.g., Expert Bounty Hunter, Expert Surveyor, Expert Scout, Expert Smuggler/Trader).
• Loyal: Known for sticking to friends or employers, even at personal cost.
• Lucky: Things always seem to work out for them, but this breeds resentment.
• Natural Aptitude: Admired for innate ability rather than training.
• Protector of Innocents: Known for defending those who cannot defend themselves. (e.g., Protector of the Underdog for Bounty Hunters, Merciful for Pirates).
• Superlative Lover: Known for romantic and sexual prowess and compassion.
• Survivor: Has faced disasters and come through unscathed. (e.g., Sailed a Thousand Light Years for Pirates).
• True OPA: Seen as a loyal member of rebellious OPA factions. (e.g., Eyes of the OPA for Scouts).
• Deep Space Dweller: Spends more time in deep space than on planetary bodies.
• All the Best Stuff: Focuses on delivering specific high-quality cargo.
• Expedited Deliverer: Known for speed in transport.
• Zookeeper: Transports alien life-forms.
• Ostentatious: A ship that draws attention wherever it goes, good for impressions but also a target for unsavoury types.