Reaction, or NPC Reaction, is a character stat which determines the impression that a player-controlled character makes on NPCs, and thus how some of these NPCs react during dialog.
The relative modifier is called Reaction Adjustment, and the three main reaction tiers are called:
- "Friendly"
- "Neutral"
- "Hostile".
How it works
Some NPCs are scripted to check the Reaction score of the talking party member, and react accordingly. For example, an NPC might refuse to give a quest (or even outright turn hostile) when talked to with a party member with a low Reaction score, or might give a higher quest reward to a party member with a high Reaction score.
The in-game character sheet shows the Reaction Adjustment value for each player-controlled character, which is related to the absolute Reaction score like this:
- Reaction = 10 + Reaction Adjustment
The Reaction Adjustment is computed based on the party's reputation and the character's charisma, in such a way that to reach a high Reaction score, you need either high reputation or high charisma.
Tiers
When NPCs check a party member's Reaction score, they tend to check whether it is in one of these tiers:
| NPC reaction tier | Reaction score range | Reaction Adjustment range |
|---|---|---|
| '"Friendly" | 15 or higher | +5 or higher |
| "Neutral" | 8 to 14 | -2 to +4 |
| "Hostile" | 7 or lower | -3 or lower |
The following table shows the charisma scores needed for each tier, based on the party's reputation:
| Reputation | Charisma needed for... | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| "Hostile" | "Neutral" | "Friendly" | |
| 1 | any | impossible | impossible |
| 2 | 17 or less | 18 to 22 | 23+ |
| 3 | 15 or less | 16 to 21 | 22+ |
| 4 | 14 or less | 15 to 20 | 21+ |
| 5 | 13 or less | 14 to 19 | 20+ |
| 6 | 12 or less | 13 to 18 | 19+ |
| 7 | 9 or less | 10 to 18 | 19+ |
| 8 | 8 or less | 9 to 18 | 19+ |
| 9-13 | 7 or less | 8 to 17 | 18+ |
| 14 | 7 or less | 8 to 15 | 16+ |
| 15 | 7 or less | 8 to 15 | 16+ |
| 16 | 6 or less | 7 to 14 | 15+ |
| 17 | 6 or less | 7 to 14 | 15+ |
| 18 | 5 or less | 6 to 13 | 14+ |
| 19 | 5 or less | 6 to 13 | 14+ |
| 20 | 4 or less | 5 to 12 | 13+ |
Note that many NPCs don't check Reaction scores at all, and also that many situations in the game are affected directly by reputation or charisma, rather than by Reaction.
Score computation
- Reaction score = 10
- + Reaction Adjustment from charisma
- + Reaction Adjustment from reputation
The reaction adjustment from charisma is: [1]
| Charisma | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10-12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16-17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjustment | -8 | -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 | +5 | +8 | +9 | +10 | +11 | +12 | +13 | +14 |
The reaction adjustment from reputation is: [2]
| Reputation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9-13 | 14-15 | 16-17 | 18-19 | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjustment | -20 | -7 | -6 | -5 | -4 | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 | +4 |
Alignment does not have a direct influence on the Reaction score, although Gorion's Ward's alignment at the start of the game determines his or her starting reputation value, making it easier or harder to reach higher (or lower) Reaction scores.
Since no actual roll takes place, Luck (and by extension, Fatigue) has no effect on reaction.
Table
This table shows how much Charisma a character requires, to pass or exceed certain Reaction checks at certain party reputations:
| Reaction check |
Reaction Adjustment needed |
Reputation: | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9-13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | |||
| Charisma needed: | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | -8 | 23 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | -7 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 4 | -6 | 25 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| 5 | -5 | - | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| 6 | -4 | - | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | |
| 7 | -3 | - | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | |
| 8 | -2 | - | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | |
| 9 | -1 | - | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | |
| 10 | +0 | - | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | |
| 11 | +1 | - | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | |
| 12 | +2 | - | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | |
| 13 | +3 | - | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 9 | |
| 14 | +4 | - | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 10 | |
| 15 | +5 | - | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 13 | |
| 16 | +6 | - | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | |
| 17 | +7 | - | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 15 | |
| 18 | +8 | - | - | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | |
| 19 | +9 | - | - | - | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | |
| 20 | +10 | - | - | - | - | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | |
Technical details
The game files define six Reaction score cut-off values, corresponding to the end points of the three reaction tiers Friendly, Neutral, and Hostile:
| Internal name | Reaction score | Corresponding Reaction Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| FRIENDLY_UPPER | 20 | +10 |
| FRIENDLY_LOWER | 15 | +5 |
| NEUTRAL_UPPER | 14 | +4 |
| NEUTRAL_LOWER | 8 | -2 |
| HOSTILE_UPPER | 7 | -3 |
| HOSTILE_LOWER | 2 | -8 |
When NPCs check a party member's Reaction score, they tend to check whether it is higher or lower than one of these cut-off values.
Trivia
- Various sources, including manuals, state that the computer generates a random number between 8 and 12 and then applies the Reaction Adjustment to that number to generate the final Reaction score. However, this feature was never implemented, and the base Reaction value is always set at 10.[2]