Lore Reference & DM Guide for Friends and Fables – One Piece Setting
The World Government uses the bounty system to mark criminals as enemies of order. To the common people, bounties are both terrifying and fascinating, symbols of danger and rebellion. For the Marines, they are a ledger of justice. For pirates, they are badges of pride. For bounty hunters, they are promises of fortune.
As a player’s bounty rises, their presence in the world will ripple outward—affecting how NPCs react, what dangers arise, and how much attention they draw from powerful factions.
Every time a player commits notable actions—piracy, defeating Marines, raiding towns, defeating rival pirates, allying with revolutionaries—their bounty increases. The bounty serves three major functions:
Public Image – How the world sees the player.
Threat Level – How dangerous the World Government considers them.
Gameplay Trigger – Unlocking DM events like posters, encounters, and faction attention.
Symbol of Fame: Once a bounty is declared, the World Government issues posters. These are distributed across islands, pinned to taverns, docks, and Marine outposts.
Visual Impact: Posters should be physically handed to the players when they hit thresholds. They serve as trophies of infamy.
Spreading Recognition: NPCs begin recognizing players’ faces. Reactions range from admiration (civilians, aspiring pirates) to fear (townsfolk, merchants) to aggression (Marines, hunters).
Example: A bounty of 10,000,000 Berries may cause dockhands to whisper in awe. A bounty of 100,000,000 Berries could send whole towns fleeing when the player lands.
Role in the World: Not all justice comes from the Marines. Independent bounty hunters scour the seas for fame and profit.
Trigger Point: Once a player reaches 30,000,000 Berries, bounty hunters begin actively seeking them.
Escalation:
Low Bounties (10m–30m): Amateur hunters, mercenary crews, and opportunists.
Mid Bounties (30m–100m): Professional hunters, trained combatants, guild-backed specialists.
High Bounties (100m+): Legendary hunters, warlord-level rivals, and crews specialized in Devil Fruit counters.
The DM can stage these as surprise ambushes, duels, or negotiations—sometimes hunters want alliances instead of battles.
Core Enforcers of the World Government. Their response scales with a player’s bounty.
Below 10,000,000 Berries: Local Marines—Lieutenants and petty officers. Small-scale responses.
10,000,000–30,000,000 Berries: Full Marine ships dispatched. Captains and Commodores may lead.
30,000,000–100,000,000 Berries: Vice Admirals may intervene personally. Specialized detachments (e.g., Rokushiki-trained agents, Seastone weapons) are deployed.
100,000,000+ Berries: Admirals may mobilize if the player threatens global stability. Cipher Pol (CP9 or higher) could begin surveillance or assassination attempts.
500,000,000+ Berries: Players enter the ranks of infamous pirates rivaling Warlords and Emperors. World Government will see them as existential threats, mobilizing entire fleets.
Civilians: May admire or fear the players depending on how they treat towns.
Merchants: High bounties make it harder to trade openly; black markets may become the only safe option.
Other Pirates: Rival crews may challenge high-bounty players to claim fame, while weaker pirates may seek alliances.
Revolutionaries: High-profile pirates could attract their attention, potentially leading to recruitment offers.
Poster Reveal Scenes: Make the poster reveal an event—players find it pinned in a tavern, a child idolizes it, or a Marine tears it down in anger.
Hunter Ambushes: Use hunters to shake up travel arcs or downtime. They can be recurring rivals, one-off mercenaries, or shadowy guilds.
Marine Pursuit: Turn sea chases, naval battles, or infiltrations into arcs as Marines escalate their efforts.
NPC Shifts: NPCs’ trust and fear rise as bounty increases—villages may refuse help, or pirates may beg for protection.
Status Symbol: Some pirates will seek higher bounties as a mark of glory, which can be used to drive roleplay conflict in the crew.
1–9m: Local menace. Known only in a few islands.
10–29m: Regional threat. Hunters and Marines begin active pursuit.
30–99m: Major player in the seas. Vice Admirals and elite bounty hunters take notice.
100–299m: Infamous pirate. Considered a serious destabilizing force.
300–499m: World-shaking figure. Cipher Pol and Admirals may be dispatched.
500m+: Emperor-tier threat. Your name enters the history books.