As I mentioned before, for our Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder game, we are reaching a point in the campaign where the relative “sin” or “virtue” level of each character is becoming relevant. Basically, for the prior game, as they have shown one tendency or another, they have earned a bonus or penalty during the upcoming sessions, based on their further adventures into Runeforge. For example, a character who has been Greedy would experience a bonus in areas associated with Karzoug, the Runelord of Greed, while those who have shown Generosity would experience a penalty.
During a recent session, I gave the group a survey, to rank each of the other players and their portrayal of their characters, on how they fell on the various virtues. This way, it was not my own subjective views, but much more of a team effort. From these results, I used the two most extreme trait of each character – the sin that was the most prevalent, and the virtue that was the strongest. Basically, just a +1 or -1 per vote, with the total being ranked. In two cases, the group decided that a character had shown no sign of Sin, so actually will not have to deal with the effects in those areas. The results I think turned out pretty good, as follows.
| Character | Virtue | Sin |
| Amiri | Zeal | Wrath |
| Droogami | Generosity | Sloth |
| Ezren | Temperance | Sloth |
| Kyra | Charity | None |
| Lem | Temperance | None |
| Lini | Zeal | Envy |
| Merisel | Zeal | Greed |
| Sajan | Zeal | Greed |
| Seelah | Zeal | Pride |
| Seltyiel | Zeal | Pride |
| Valeros | Zeal | Wrath |
My next step, in order to help the players remember these bonuses and penalties is to prepare a set of “flip-disks”, with the bonus on one side, and the penalty on the other. During the game, as appropriate, one side or the other would be visible, and when the bonus swaps, the disk would be flipped. A very basic idea, but hopefully one which will help our overly large group keep track of the shifts.
