The Importance of Trust

Building Trust in Ravengro
Trust is an important factor in this adventure. Actions the PCs take during the course of their stay in Ravengro can increase or decrease the amount of trust the town’s citizens have for them. The PCs start with a Trust score of 20; at 0, the locals rise up in an angry mob and run them out of town, but at higher Trust scores, the PCs receive benefits like discounts on purchases, free healing, and other forms of aid.

Building Trust
In “The Haunting of Harrowstone,” the PCs spend quite a bit of time in the town of Ravengro. Unfortunately, as strangers to the town during a particularly bad time, they aren’t initially trusted. Yet as the days roll by, they are faced with numerous opportunities to build upon the town’s trust and, eventually, become well liked by the citizens, earning discounts on purchases, free room and board, or perhaps even greater rewards for their good deeds.

Ravengro’s overall trust in the PCs is expressed by a numerical value—a Trust score. This score is shared by the entire party—acts of individual members can affect this total just as surely as acts the entire group takes part in. When the adventure begins, the PCs have a Trust score of 20. They can raise their Trust score by doing good deeds, respecting the townsfolk, or completing quests—both this article and “The Haunting of Harrowstone” present numerous Trust awards for completing quests.

Losing Trust
In addition to certain events in the adventure, there are three general ways the PCs can lose Trust points.

Harrowstone Influence: Each day until the haunting of Harrowstone is defeated, the PCs lose 1 point of Trust at sundown.

Obvious Crime: While rumors and whispers of PCs committing crimes are not enough to lower their Trust score (their delight at the opportunity to spread such rumors somewhat offsets this for the locals), every time a PC openly commits a crime in town, the group loses 3 points of Trust. If the crime is particularly violent, the point loss is doubled.

Townsfolk Deaths: Each time a Ravengro citizen dies, the PCs lose 1 Trust point. If the PCs are obviously and directly responsible for the death, they lose 6 Trust points.

Effects of Trust
The table below summarizes the effects of Trust as the PCs accumulate or lose points.

Trust Score: This value indicates the party’s current Trust score.

Purchase Price: This lists the surcharge (if a positive value) or discount (if a negative value) the PCs get to all purchases in excess of 10 gp made within Ravengro.

Diplomacy Modifier: This lists the penalty or bonus that the PCs gain on all Diplomacy checks made in Ravengro when interacting with citizens.

Reaction: This column lists a specific reaction or reward that the town grants to the PCs upon reaching that level of Trust. With the exception of “Angry Mob” (which only occurs at the lowest level of Trust, and goes away as soon as the PCs work their way out of this level of distrust), reactions are cumulative. A party that gains the maximum Trust possible gains the benefit of all the positive reactions.

XP Reward: Award this to the party the first time they reach this level of Trust.

Angry Mob: If the PCs’ Trust score drops to 0, they become hated in Ravengro—unless they accomplish a great deed (such as defeating the haunting in Harrowstone) or completely disguise themselves, they can no longer gain Trust points in Ravengro. No one in town will sell anything to them, and all Diplomacy checks involving citizens automatically fail. Worse, if the PCs don’t quickly leave town, an angry mob is bound to form soon with the intent to capture and imprison the PCs.

The Party's Current Trust Rating is: 22 (Neutral)

20 Base
+1 for peacefully dispersing the angry mob's interruption at the funeral.
+1 for speaking out on Professor Lorrimor's behalf at the funeral.

The Party's Current Trust Rating is: 24 (Neutral)

+1 for bringing Zokar the Headsmen's Scythe
+1 for buying a round of drinks at The Laughing Demon

The Party's Current Trust Rating is: 23
-1 for ???

The Party's Current Trust Points: 25

+1 for helping at the Temple (Kev-Kev).
+1 for helping at the Farm (Valknar).

The Party's Current Trust Rating is: 27

-1 for ???
+1 for Kevin helping at Temple.
+1 for Balta picking up trash (and being publicly happy while doing such).
+1 for Millie helping to organize the Unfurling Scroll

Current Trust Score: 30 (Trusted)

-1 from ???
+1 from working at the Temple. (Kev-Kev)
+2 from working on the farm. (Balta/Valknar)
+1 from buying a round at the Laughing Demon.

Current Trust Score: 31

-1 from ???
+2 from working at the farm. (Valknar/Balta)

Current Trust Score: 32

-1 from ???
+2 from working on the farm (Valknar/Balta)

Current Trust Score: 37

-1 from ???
+4 from working at our jobs, yo. (Kevin/Millie/Balta/Valknar)
+2 from capturing Gibs and NOT killing him.

V E

Current Trust Score: 36

-1 from ???

Current Trust Score: 35

-1 from ???

Current Trust Score: 34

-1 from ???

V E S