House Rules

[Vortigern]

For determining the difficulty of knowing about and/or finding spirits.

@Emelric

Step 1: SG determines Notoriety of the spirit through the following scoring approach

• Visibility of effects (0–2): Does the spirit do anything people would notice and talk about? 0 = subtle/no manifestation, 1 = occasional odd occurrences locals attribute to it, 2 = regular, dramatic, or seasonal manifestations

• Site traffic (0–2): How many people pass through or visit? 0 = remote, nobody goes there, 1 = local traffic only (farmers, fisherfolk), 2 = pilgrims, fairs, major roads, or trade routes cross it

• Folklore embedding (0–2): Is it part of stories people tell? 0 = no lore attached, 1 = a local tale or two, 2 = tied to a named legendary figure, saint's story, or widely retold myth

• Age/continuity (0–2): 0 = arrived recently or intermittently present, 1 = generations, 2 = "it's always been there," ancient and stable enough that it's part of the landscape's identity

Convert total to Notoriety tier:

• 0 → Concealed (spirit is actively hidden, new to an area, or dangerous enough that even inquiring draws a suppressive response)
• 1–2 → Guarded/taboo (spirit is known by locals, but they avoid discussing it with outsiders, out of fear or superstition)
• 3–4 → Town/Village-known
• 5 → County/District-known
• 6–7 → Province/Region-known
• 8 → Tribunal/Kingdom-known

Step 2: determine ease factor based on Notoriety and scope of Area Lore used.

Spirit Notoriety	EF for Area Lore: Tribunal/Kingdom	EF for Area Lore: Province/Region	EF for Area Lore: County/District	EF for Area Lore: Town/Village
Tribunal/Kingdom-known	6	3	3	3
Province/Region-known	9	6	3	3
County/District-known	12	9	6	3
Town/Village-known	15	12	9	6
Guarded/Taboo	18	15	12	9
Concealed	21	18	15	12

Values are based on EF = 6 for matching Notoriety and Area Lore scopes, since that's what's stated in the Sihr section of HoH:S (pg 135, I think), but we can adjust numbers if something else makes more sense.

The Area Lore used must cover an area that includes the habitat of the spirit, for the above numbers to apply. Area Lores that cover areas directly adjacent to that of the habitat can also be used, but this situation increases each ease factor in the table by 3 (or 6?).