Trust System Explained
Besmirch’s reputation system is a stack of individual trust scores — one per major NPC. Each meaningful choice you make adjusts one or more scores, and those scores band into labels (hostile / wary / neutral / friendly / loyal) that gate dialogue, quests, and item availability.
If you want to log your choices and see your current bands at a glance, use the Trust Tracker.
How modifiers add up
When you make a choice that involves an NPC, the modifier table for that NPC adds a delta to their personal score. Modifiers are additive; they do not decay over time in Early Access 0.7.
- Positive modifiers (small): attendance, gifts they like, on-time debts.
- Positive modifiers (medium): completing personal favors, warning of danger, returning belongings.
- Positive modifiers (large): finishing chain quests, avenging losses, choosing them in faction conflicts.
- Negative modifiers: stealing, missing tithes, defacing personal spaces, choosing against them.
Most NPCs have 3-4 documented modifiers in 0.7. You can see them on each NPC’s page (e.g. Father Aldred, the Baron).
Threshold bands
| Band | Score range (proposed) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| hostile | score ≤ hostile cutoff | NPC actively works against you |
| wary | hostile < score ≤ wary | NPC sells but at markup |
| neutral | wary < score ≤ neutral | NPC speaks normally |
| friendly | neutral < score ≤ friendly | NPC offers favors, discounts |
| loyal | score > friendly | NPC unlocks personal quest line |
Exact cutoffs are pending Phase 0 audit. Once verified, the Trust Tracker will fill in real numbers; until then, the tool shows “audit pending” rather than computing potentially wrong bands.
”Never burn these bridges” — early game
A handful of choices are reputation-defining and very hard to recover from:
- Defacing the chapel altar. −25 with Father Aldred. Pre-winter, this kills the blessed cleaver path.
- Refusing the autumn tithe. −15 with the Baron. The Baron sends men.
- Sabotaging Jenra’s crops. −40 with Jenra; she tells the Baron. Two ratings tanked at once.
- Stealing from Margit. −30 with the innkeeper; she bars the common room.
Most of these are tempting in the early game when gold is tight. They are not worth it.
Late-game branch unlocks
At “loyal” with each named NPC, you unlock a personal quest line:
- Father Aldred → Blessed cleaver + altar quests
- Margit → Inn defense quest line + late-game lodging discount
- Cale → Free top-tier blade after the cave-4 run
- Mira → Story revelation about the Baron family
- Esa → Library archive (and the heretical journal Father Aldred wants burned — pick a side)
Two of these (Father Aldred vs Esa) are partially mutually exclusive. Plan accordingly.
See also
- Trust Tracker tool — log choices, see bands, see next-band delta
- NPCs — full modifier list per character
- Beginner Guide — week-1 trust decisions