# RPG a Day 2026 - 14: Regard tags: #thoughts #thoughts/RPGaDay/2026 ![[RPG a Day 2026 (illo).jpg]] What then is regard? > [!info]+ **re·gard** /rɪˈɡɑːrd/ > > **verb** (used with object) > · to look upon or think of in a particular way; to esteem. > · to have or show respect or concern for: *to regard another's rights.* > · to look at; observe. > · to take into account; consider. > > **verb** (used without object) > · to pay attention; take notice. > > **noun** > · reference; relation: *to err with regard to facts.* > · an aspect, point, or particular: *quite satisfactory in this regard.* > · thought; attention; concern. > · a look; gaze. > · respect, esteem, or deference. > · *(regards)* a sentiment of esteem or respectful consideration: *give her my regards.* > > **idiom** — *with regard to:* concerning; about. For our purposes, we look to the nouns in particular: respect, esteem, or deference. The traditional approach to tabletop RPGs doesn't spend much time on reputation. The idea of the migratory murder-hobo doesn't leave room for building a reputation in a place. More often, you're outrunning your reputation. The classic module doesn't care much for continuity from one to the next. Surprisingly few give much of a hoot beyond basic faction reputation. Reputation is a critical part of making characters feel grounded within their world. Their reputations should precede them and follow them. It helps if you have a reputation when the character is created. This flies in the face of the zero to hero concept that has dogged our heels since the beginning of the hobby's time, but you'd think it would be a larger part. Continuity, then, is the problem. Starting at nothing means that you have no history, no background, nothing of importance that happened before play begins. While that does provide an opportunity to build regard in the setting, it means that every time is a tabula rasa. There are no hooks that give the character a reason to care.[^1] I briefly considered going through a pile of RPGs and talking about how reputation is represented within them mechanically, but then I realized I would just be talking about the same RPGs I always talk about, and that gets tedious. Instead, let's briefly touch on what reputation does for characters and why it should be important to you. It should be important to the point that you are willing to make notes as to the regard in which characters are held by whom and why. Every GM and every solo player has run into the problem of trying to decide how a character feels about yours the first time that they meet. The easy solution is just to roll on a table, but that doesn't really tell you why. You can add more complexity to the table or add more questions. Have these characters ever met before? How would the other party characterize the relationship? One might roll on a noun and an adjective table just for kicks to populate that question, et cetera. This works. It's effective. It demands that you be creative on the spot, but that's why we play, right? That said, the history of a character and where they've been should be part of their creation. Just like figuring out what the current status of their family is, who's in it, and how they feel about them. No character starts any game having done nothing in their lives. They have professional relationships with organizations. If they're criminals, they have relationships with gangs and fences and all the people and groups who make their jobs possible. If they're heroes, they've had people they've rescued, villages and cities that they've inhabited and helped, and treasures that they've liberated. Getting these things down on paper at the beginning of the game is intensely useful, even done vaguely. Even vague reputations can pull on the world and its characters. Very specific reputations can signal you want to see those particular things come up later. Either way, it's a win for grounding the character in the setting. The more you can ground the character, the more their decisions make sense, and the less aggressively the player has to be put on the spot every time something new comes along. It not only provides insight into what new people, places, and experiences are going to think about the character when they get there, but also what people and places the character can call on later to tie their history back into the current story. This is an ongoing process. Reputations are constantly being born, evolving, and occasionally forgotten. Sometimes a character may go out of their way to erase their reputation, and that itself can make for good storytelling. Don't be afraid to invest time in thinking about the regard in which a character is held. This is true for NPCs just as well as PCs. Put more effort into it than just sticking a number on a "reputation" skill. Reputations have flavors. Regard has color. Figure out who it's with, what kind of reputation it is. Even negative reputations can be leveraged for storytelling potential. Do that, and I think you'll find that not only does the world have more regard for your characters, but so will you. That deepening of respect and understanding for the characters that you deal with makes gameplay all the more satisfying. With that, I sign off with my regards. [^1]: We've talked about reasons to care before. At least once. Has it been anywhere else? Yes — more than once: [[RPGaDay 2026 - 12 - Loss|RPG a Day 2026 - 12: Loss]], [[RPGaDay 2026 - 04 - Charm|RPG a Day 2026 - 04: Charm]], [[Day 06 - Motive|RPG A DAY 2025: Day 06 - Motive]], [[Day 10 - Origin|RPG A DAY 2025: Day 10 - Origin]], [[Day 12 - Path|RPG A DAY 2025: Day 12 - Path]], [[RPG A DAY 2024 - Compelling characters|RPG A DAY 2024: Compelling characters]], [[RPG A DAY 2024 - Sensational session|RPG A DAY 2024: Sensational session]], [[The Soap Opera as Play Structure]], [[Recommended Games About Wars and the Wages Thereof]], [[The Uses of Terrifying Freedom and the Map to the Subtle]], and [[The Evocation of Evil]].