• Overview
  • Map
  • Areas
  • Points of Interest
  • Characters
  • Races
  • Classes
  • Factions
  • Monsters
  • Items
  • Spells
  • Feats
  • Quests
  • One-Shots
  • Game Master
  1. Eclipse
  3. Lore

Reputation and Heat

System Name: Reputation and Heat
Purpose: Make faction response feel alive and consequential across Viratia.

Two Numbers Per Faction

  1. Reputation (Rep): how much a faction trusts or respects you

  2. Heat: how urgently they want you stopped or controlled

Rep can be positive or negative. Heat is always 0 or higher.

Reputation Tiers

  • Rep -3 Hated: shoot on sight or covert kill orders

  • Rep -2 Hostile: refused service, harassment, sabotage

  • Rep -1 Distrusted: watched, overcharged, low cooperation

  • Rep 0 Neutral: standard interactions

  • Rep +1 Known: small favors, discounts, rumors

  • Rep +2 Valued: access to restricted areas, elite contracts

  • Rep +3 Allied: backup, pardons, unique rewards

Heat Tiers

  • Heat 0 Quiet: no active pursuit

  • Heat 1 Noticed: questioned, watched, minor patrol checks

  • Heat 2 Wanted: bounties, informants, frequent inspections

  • Heat 3 Hunted: kill teams, raids, asset seizures, ambushes

  • Heat 4 Crisis: city lockdowns, faction wide alerts, forced confrontations

How Heat Increases

  • public violence, especially in cities

  • stealing major assets, relics, or ledgers

  • humiliating a powerful figure

  • repeated crimes in one region

  • exposing supernatural truths to humans

How Heat Decreases

  • time passing without incidents

  • bribes, favors, reparations, or scapegoats

  • clearing warrants through legal or criminal contacts

  • completing contracts that benefit the faction

  • relocating to a different region for a time

Bounties and Warrants

Humans use paper systems.
Vampires use whispers and debts.
Elsir uses law plus strength.
Heat triggers:

  • Wanted Posters: bounty hunters appear

  • Warrants: search rights, arrests, property seizure

  • Black Orders: covert elimination, no paperwork

GM Instructions

Track Rep and Heat separately for:

  • Union of Meridian States

  • Ardent Concord

  • United Merchants Guild

  • Vampire Syndicate

  • Elsir Council

  • Major local gangs or tribes

When players act, apply:

  • Rep shift based on faction benefit or insult

  • Heat shift based on visibility and severity