NPC Attitudes

The way you are interacted with by the various non player characters in your adventures and the world at large is heavily affected by how you are viewed. Some bearing curses or the legacy of prior actions may be treated suspiciously, or even attacked. While others have a heroic or famous reputation preceding them, paving a pre-gained trust. This system covers how your interactions with NPCs and even enemies goes whenever you interact socially with a creature. Often times these mechanics only apply if you speak the language of the creatures, but even images can convey tales on occasion.

Attitude Score and Thresholds

Thresholds represent a larger bucket of roughly how a creature views you, and the scale shows how close they are to moving thresholds or minor differences in how they approach you for that threshold.

Hostile: The hostile threshold means an enemy is willing to attack you based on their view of you. In most scenarios attempting to persuade a "hostile" creature is futile as they will be initiating combat, and taking an action to attempt persuasion is a very taxing option.

Neutral: The Neutral bucket is representative of creatures that either don't have an opinion of you, or are undecided/conflicted on how they feel about you. It also works as the transition stage between the other two Thresholds.

Friendly: The Friendly Threshold means that a creature has some suspension of disbelief. Small importance persuasion checks are more for how well you speak rather than believability. It also serves to give benefits to long term NPCs and how the PCs interact with them.

Attitude Score	Threshold	Scale effect
5 or higher	Friendly	Companion: NPC is willing to work with the party, fight alongside them, and trusts their judgement.
3 to 4	Friendly	Trusting: NPC is willing to follow reasonable instructions, or requests
1 to 2	Friendly	Presuming: NPC is able to be convinced.
0 to -2	Neutral	Passive: You subtract the NPC's attitude score from any Charisma check you make against them.
-3 to -4	Hostile	Suspicious: NPC is hesitant to believe you, and is unwilling against any of your effects.
-5 or lower	Hostile	Violent: Enemies will attack you on sight, or plot the best method to hurt you within their abilities.

Starting Attitude Score

When your character first interacts with a creature certain factors are used to determine their "attitude score". Some of the normal modifiers are viewed below
- Visible Curse: Creatures, such as lycanthropes and penetants, that can visibly be identified as having a curse cause most NPCs to start at a -3 Attitude score "Suspicious" of havoc that may be caused. NPCs using the "panicked or Paranoid" RP traits may have a lower attitude.
- Bloodline: Players of a race that is viewed as evil or dangerous, such as tieflings, shifters, and the monstrous races, are viewed in most areas with a lower initial attitude score. Sometimes other scenarios such as creature rivalries can also fall under this characteristic.
- Reputation: The party, or party members actions that have been "large" enough to spread to the current NPC can improve or penalize their attitude
- Organization: Members of certain organizations such as cults, religions, or guilds can have a disposition for friendliness or mistrust against members of rival factions, or known "disrupters" of their organization. Party reputation can counteract this however.
- History: Similar to reputation, but more seen in higher level campaigns, history is represented of the "documented" actions, such as people who have witnessed or experienced your actions.

Town Attitudes

For the purpose of less "long term" NPCs, such as a village you are passing through, or public opinion in a city, each Area has a "Town Attitude". NPCs encountering the party for the first time, or rarely will use the Town attitude unless the players have taken specific actions against them. Even crimes such as thievery or assault against a specific "unimportant" NPCs is instead reflected in the Town Attitude, representing the spreading of rumors and stories.

Some NPC's that are more important or more prevalent in an adventuring area may have RP traits that modify the town attitude to result in their attitude for the party or specific players. In the case of children, or creatures that aren't "aware" of the town's attitude, they may use or factor in less modifiers for attitude. This is often represented by the "Innocent" RP trait.

Changing attitudes

Entering into interactions and areas may start with good or bad attitudes, but what truly matters is the actions the players take. A failed deception check, or a crime committed may lower the players overall attitude, whereas saving a village, or raising moral may shift the towns opinion in their favor. The following actions may provoke a raise or lowering of the town or an NPC's attitude of the party.
- Deception: Failing a deception check against an NPC's insight can decrease an attitude score by 1. Sometimes this doesn't happen, sometime failing by 5 or more provokes this, all at DM discretion.
- Attacks: Each time a creature observes you targeting it with an attack, this decreases its attitude score by 1 , or by 2 if the attack was a critical hit. Sometimes hitting a creatures allies may provoke this.
- Spells: Each time a creature observes you forcing a saving throw against it, its attitude score is decreased by 1. In some scenarios the dm will allow you to make a deception check to have a spell go undetected. (Such as illusions, non combat spells, or even some times if the creature passes the save)
- Healing: During initiative, providing healing increases the creatures attitude by one, up to 3 attitude max. This does not apply if the creature is hostile unless the DM decides it would.
- Curing: Removing a condition from a neutral or friendly creature increases their attitude score by one to a max of 3, This does not effect Hostile Creatures.
- Charity: Taking actions or quests that help a creature of Neutral or Friendly can increase attitude score by one to a max of 3.
- Interaction: The DM may determine that certain social or RP interactions may increase or decrease an NPC attitude score.
- Duty: If a player stands in the way of an NPC's responsibility, or takes actions that prevent them from completing a task, it may reduce the NPC's attitude of them.
- De-escalation: A player may attempt to "reason" with a creature during combat. As an action the player can roll an opposed persuasion check against the creature's insight, On beating the creature it's attitude score increases by 1 to a max of 1. The DM may determine that certain creatures cannot be "reasoned" with, or that an alternate check such as animal handling must be used.

In Non combat Scenarios, a "Town Attitude" can be shifted with options above that "only effect neutral or friendly NPCs" to also improve the attitude of Hostile NPCs with certain quest hooks.

Magic and other Effects

There are other effects that can effect or even set NPC attitudes, especially when it comes to spells.

Downtime:

Entertain: You put on a performance, or concert trying to show skill, friendliness and gain popularity. Players proficient in musical instruments, (or performance in some scenarios) can use a downtime activity (1 day) to attempt to entertain a town, in an effort to improve public opinion. DCs can differ, as can degrees of success, however roughly success makes a increase to a Town's Attitude score.

While only one player can take this action, other players can expend their down time activity to "help". Characters with a proficiency in Musical instruments (or sometimes performance) checks add their Charisma modifier (min 1) to the Instigators' Check, Non proficient Players simple provide advantage to the check.

Propaganda: You create and spread posters, pamphlets and flyers, attempting to convince a town to have a certain attitude towards a chosen organization, group, or even your own party. Players proficient in Calligrapher's tools can use a downtime activity (1 day) to attempt to spread information, in an effort to affect public opinion. DCs can differ, as can degrees of success, however roughly success makes a desired change to a Town's Attitude score.

While only one player can take this action, other players can expend their down time activity to "help". Characters with a proficiency in Calligraphers Tools add their Intelligence modifier (min 1) to the Instigators' Check, Non proficient Players simple provide advantage to the check.

Disguises: Using disguise tools can allow you to "reset" your starting opinion with an NPC, fit in with an organization to gain trust to your Attitude score, or even pretend to be another person to "use" their attitude score with other NPC's.

Magic

Certain spells or abilities can cause effects on NPC attitudes as listed below.

Charmed Condition and similar effects: Creatures with the charmed condition automatically have their NPC attitude set to 3, and if the spell states a consequence to the Target's opinion of the caster once the spell wears off, their original attitude is lowered by 1, or even 2 depending on the actions they took while charmed.

Calm emotions: The "Indifference" effect increases the NPC's attitude to -2 until the effect ends. If you increase the NPC's attitude up to 4 during this time, when the effect ends their score instead is then set to -2.

Disguise Self, Shape changing, and Illusions: Choosing a form of a creature can allow you to "scapegoat" your NPC attitude score onto another identity, or even "use" the trust in an impersonated identity.

Truth Magic: In some scenarios casting magic that forces truth or "reveals" lies can be seen as taboo, and lower NPC attitude, or on the flip side "consenting" to a Zone of Truth as a party could improve NPC attitudes.

Modify Memory Effects: You can attempt to "implant" attitude memories if you use magic that does so to change the NPC's score with you or another creature.