Help me to understand: Exiled Caste Talent (from Conan the Barbarian)

**Exiled**
Some past crime, oath-breaking, or disagreement sent
your family into exile, and you can never return or hold
a place in the society that is your own. You must spend 2
additional Gold when Carousing within your homeland,
but for all other purposes your Social Standing is treated
as if it were 2 higher in the Carousing phase.

How does this actually work? Say I’m from Hyperborea and, as a Renegade, I have Social Standing 0. In Hyperborea, I pay the 2 extra Gold, but then what? What are the “all other purposes” mentioned here? Does that mean for Carousing phases outside of the homeland, or are there other things that it applies to in the Carousing phase besides just the Gold spent for upkeep?

During Carousing phase events also start to happen, it is not only gold that you have to spend. There is sidebar on p.19 in the Core book that explains the Social Standing and how it can be used in play:

When a character attempts a Command, Society, or Persuade test where the character’s relative social
standing would have an impact, the gamemaster may modify the test accordingly, increasing or decreasing the test Difficulty by one or more steps in either direction.

So the Exiled character effectively has the Social Status of Priesthood or Petty Nobility–and adjusts the social rolls as such–but only when outside of his/her homeland and only during the Carousing phase (not when such tests are done outside of the Carousing phase)?

That just seems really strange.

It is not necessary for the increased Social Standing to be considered good. As it is quoted, it can increase the difficulty of the checks based on this status :slight_smile: If you murdered someone or broke an oath, obviously the 2 higher is for the purpose of getting things difficult, not easier.

It is like the renown to some extent.

Still seems very odd that it only applies during the Carousing phase.