Yeah, no worries. It's not like I know what Shadowrun's hacking system, or whatever, is like. We are not all encyclopedias of game mechanics.
I long ago decided I really didn't care about writing a perfect, or even good, social minigame, since the average gamer is perfectly happy to use D&D's "Roll a die, add a mod, beat a DC" or some Dice Pool opposed roll thing. Social minigames are very, very hard to write, so I'm just going to steal After Sundown's "How to Win an Argument" with the necessary word changes.
That said, I feel like part of the high school experience is dealing with your reputation, whether that's as a nerd, or the captain of the football team, or the cool kid, or whatever, along with whatever the latest faux pas or win you've had is.
I'm already planning on using Aspects in Scholomance, because I like the system. It also happens to be a decent way to evoke Rowlingverse wandlore without an Ars Magica "Ye Olde Catalogue of Magicke Bonii." So it seemed to me that using aspects to represent reputation would at least be functional.
Mind you- I'm talking about functionality, particularly in the hands of the novice and average gamer, not Platonic Ideals of Design here. I am far, far fucking away from Platonic Ideals of Design here. I'm just trying to scratch a gaming itch and maybe get a date. If the game is something I can be kind of proud of, that's a bonus.
The idea is that who your character is and what they do will influence how other students and the teachers treat them. So in addition to a changing "Latest Incident" aspect for Reputation, you might also have a Clique aspect, where you write "Nerd" or "Jock" or "Demon Cultist" and then Mister Cavern can say "well, the Jocks think you're a wuss, so they're not going to give you the information you want (but have a Plot Dollar)" while also allowing the player to say "Hey, I'm a Jock, the cheerleaders think I'm hot shit. Here's a Plot Dollar so I can increase my success by two hits and get them hanging off of me." And the Soup Guy thing is just a crappy example. It's probably more like "Known for bullying first years" which can be compelled when you're dealing with protective do gooders, but you can invoke it when you think the guy you're talking to is a similar dick, or when you're talking to first years and want to intimidate them.
And now I see the problem you're trying to point out. The aspect isn't being attached to everyone. If you're the person who pissed off the Slytherin Prefect, you get the Incident Aspect "Pissed of Slytherin Prefect." Its attached to you. I said floating originally because typically FATE characters have seven aspects and I hadn't thought about doing a Social Aspects grouping. So its a part of your character, its just that Mister Cavern might call it into play when you're dealing with people who work for or are close to the Slytherin Prefect, and you can invoke it when you're dealing with people who you think hate him.
I feel like I'm talking in circles. Let me try to figure out a better explanation.
Ok, Harry Potter book five, Order of the Phoenix. At the end of book four, Harry reappeared on Hogwarts grounds with the body of local cool guy Cedric Diggory, shouting that Voldemort was back. Harry gains the Incident Aspect "The Boy Who Cried Voldemort." At the start of their Fifth Year, Seamus confronts Harry, because Seamus' mother reads the Prophet, which says that Harry and Dumbledore are mad fearmongers, demanding to know what happened to Cedric. Seamus is looking for a fight, and Mister Cavern compels Harry's "The Boy Who Cried Voldemort" aspect, because Harry knows what happened, but most everyone else thinks he's lying (or crazy). Harry's player takes the proffered Fate Point and gives Seamus the fight he wants. Later in the year, Harry is convinced to start Dumbledore's Army and he uses his still present "The Boy Who Cried Voldemort" Aspect for his own benefit, telling people about his fights with Voldemort or his agents each of the last four years, and changes some of their minds (though others were more interested in just knowing what happened to Cedric and don't join, because they don't really care). In the process, he probably gains a new Incident Aspect "Founder of Dumbledore's Army," replacing "The Boy Who Cried Voldemort."
The aspect generated by your incident is always tied to your character, it just comes into play based on the motives and interests of those around you. There are genuinely going to be Slytherins who don't care that you pissed off the prefect, and Slytherins who in fact like that you pissed off the prefect, and there will be Griffindors who don't care and the Griffindor Prefect might, if he thinks you did it on purpose, actually disapprove of it, because he thinks you disrespected the station he shares with the guy. And the nature of the incident will determine how long it lasts, and I'm thinking you should probably get a Triumph Incident (something you did that you can generally brag about) and a Defeat Incident (something you'd rather people forget), because founding Dumbledore's Army doesn't erase that the wider wizarding world still thinks Harry is crazy.
I think the idea of the disposition of Soup Guy modifying your reputation was a mistake. That is a part of that character, and their propensity to hold a grudge shouldn't really affect what other people think of it. The fact that he'll have his friends mess with you for shorter or longer doesn't need to be accounted for in the aspect.
As to durations, I think it will vary. Minor things like "Gave the Griffindor Prefect a handy under the quidditch pitch" will last for, maybe, a week, but if you make a habit of giving griffindors handies under the pitch, then you will get an aspect along the lines of "Griffindor Bike" which probably lasts until something supplants it.
Hm. I need to sketch out the exact Reputation Aspect Structure, I'm sort of thinking something like=
- Faction: The group in school you belong to (Clique, House, whatever)
- Breed: What you physically are that people will judge you for (half-blood, pureblood, werewolf)
- Reputation: The main activity (or event) you are known for (bullying first years, bleacher handjobs, sucking up to teachers)
- Victory: The last or biggest thing you did that you want people to remember you for (slaying the basilisk, catching the snitch, top of the class)
- Defeat: The last or biggest thing you did that you wish people would forget (crying Voldemort, getting mauled by a hippogriff, tripping on your robes)
But if I do that, along with wands having aspects, then maybe I need to drop some of the core aspects, because using all the aspects of Dresden Files, plus those, brings a single character up to 12. Then the school will have aspects, houses might (effectively or actually) have aspects, and your wand will have at least a few. 20 aspects to keep in your head is probably way to much, both for reasons of head space and because it starts to get to a point where you can always find
something to improve your roll with.
