Summary

Renown is an often misunderstood and underappreciated mechanic inDungeons & Dragons. Not every Dungeon Master or table may feel that renown is a necessary system to implement, but for those who do, increasing your party’s renown can be key to progressing throughout your adventure.

In essence, renown is a trackable score monitored by the Dungeon Master that can offer you many perks like recognition in society, an increased rank within a faction, or even perks granted to you by a governing body. So, if you’re looking to gain access to these benefits, here are some tips on how to increase your party’s renown.

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10Complete Missions

Hold Up Your End Of The Bargain

The primary way to increase your renown in the world of your campaign is to complete missions. No matter who your benefactor is, chances are if you do a good job completing whatever mission they’ve sent you on, your renown with them will increase by at least a point or two.

Make sure that when you’re completing missions that might have multiple requirements for success, you’re doing your best to set your party up well. For example, if you need to extractan evil NPCbut keep them alive, inadvertently killing them might ‘complete’ the mission, but not earn you renown.

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9Take On Odd Jobs

Optimize Your Downtime

Even if your party isn’t off completing a main mission or other important quest, you can still earn renown even during your downtime. This, of course, depends on your proximity to allied organizations and NPCs that you have preexisting relationships with.

However, if you’re in a settlement duringa shopping sessionand you happen to run into a familiar NPC, ask them (and your DM by extension) if there’s anything you’re able to do for them in the interim. Should you accept their tasks, by the end of the session, you should be able to increase your renown at least slightly.

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8Seek Out Factions

Become A Joiner!

Factions and organizations are some of the key ways you can earn renown. While individual NPCs like sovereigns or other government officials can grant renown as well, joining a crime syndicate, mage’s guild, or other similar groups is the best way to earn renown. This is mainly because organizations like this will offer the best perks in turn.

For example, if you’re playing a rogue, joining a mercenary band or a crime syndicate faction is a surefire way to start earning renown for either yourself or your whole party. While traveling on your adventures, you’re able to even do recon for the group, thus increasing your renown with them by the time you return.

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7Roleplay And Socialize

It’s Not All About Combat

While slaying monsters and foes is always going to be a key way to earn the respect of allied heroes and groups in Dungeons & Dragons, sometimes, you can earn renown through good roleplay. Even if a faction you’re a part of doesn’t have a mission for you, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still pay them a visit.

This is because renown also depends on familiarity, much in the way it might work in other types of RPGs. Having important NPCs in allied factions know you, and roleplay with you consistently should help increase your renown score incrementally, and may open up future adventure paths for you and your party.

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6Finish Out Campaign Arcs

In Conclusion

The best way to earn a lot of renown at once is to complete a main campaign arc. In the2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, it is recommended that Dungeon Masters increase a character or party’s renown score by three or even four points if the group completes a hugely significant quest.

So, depending on the amount of freedom your party has to explore the world and pursue different quest options, consider prioritizing completing your party’s main quest if you’re trying to increase your renown score. If your DM is merciful, they should even offer you a pretty hefty renown perk afterward.

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5Increase Your Level

Get That XP

Though not every table will marry renown with party level, it is offered as an option in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide. Rather than tracking renown through favors or roleplay, some Dungeon Masters might choose to increase a party’s renown through their level progression.

So, if your party is right on the cusp of getting the proper XP needed to gain a level, perhaps seeking out some odd jobs, creatures to slay, and more XP-boosting tasks might be the best way to gain that extra point of renown you’re seeking. This is especially true if you’re playing on an XP-level system rather than a milestone one.

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4Avoid Disagreements

Smart Roleplay Is Good Roleplay

Gaining renown, in many ways, is the easy part. The hard part is keeping it. While not every Dungeon Master may exert this power, it is possible to lose renown depending on your choices. One of the ways you can lose renown is by making poor roleplay decisions.

For example, if your party is allied with a mage’s guild, and the wizard in your party deliberately breaks the rules of guild membership, it’s actually possible you might lose renown. Make sure you avoid disagreements or squabbles within factions to hold onto your precious renown.

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3Track Your Relationships

Keep Your Friends Close

Though your Dungeon Master will likely be the one tracking party and character renown on their end, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t do the same as a player. Ask your DM at the top of each session where your renown stands with each faction, organization, or important NPC you’ve come across if you don’t remember.

This will help you prioritize which factions or groups you need to socialize with to keep your renown up. Plus, tracking these relationships, and figuring out ways to improve them will ultimately get you more allies in the adventures to come, which is never a bad thing, particularly during high-level play.

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2Prove Yourself Trustworthy

Consistency Is Key

Consistent behavior and trustworthiness are the cornerstones of earning and keeping renown. You might complete a handful of tasks for an adventure patron of yours, earning a decent amount of renown, but if you accept a follow-up mission and forget to complete it in time, you’ll lose that hard-earned trust.

Of course, depending on your DM and campaign style, it might not always be possible to do everything for everybody. So, make sure you’re prioritizing the groups and NPCs you want to have good renown scores with, and keep tabs on missions and tasks they’ve asked you to do. Roleplay consistently with them to keep your renown high.

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1Know Your Target

Listening, Learning

Lastly, you’ll also want to make sure you understand the group or NPC you’re trying to earn renown with to gain it. Great Dungeon Masters will often give their players clues as to the inner workings of a group or NPC’s mindset, which wary players can keep tabs on and exploit.

For example, if you’re associated with a crime syndicate, and you overhear an NPC in the group talk about plans to steal a valuable necklace, and your party happens to find this necklace in a dungeon nearby, returning it to the syndicate rather than using it for yourself might earn you renown. Sure, you might lose out on the GP or magical properties of the item, but this might yield you more perks down the line.