Quests, reputation and the Expedition Table

The Ember Depths quest overhaul: the Tavern bounty board, 25 named elites, townsfolk stories, sellsword questlines, three factions and sellsword expeditions.

The Tavern's bounty board was a list of chores. Now Hearthold talks back: three factions post work in their own voices, townsfolk have stories, every sellsword has a personal questline, and idle sellswords go on expeditions while you're away.

The board

3 standing offers (one more per faction at Honoured), plus a featured contract every day that pays ×1.75 gold and a rarity step up.
Hold up to 4 board contracts at once. Nothing you accept ever expires; take a break whenever you like.
One offer rotates after every dungeon run, the rest stay put so you can plan. Rerolling one costs a little gold.
Hard+ contracts pay 1.5× to 2.75× for clearing on Hard, Epic or Legendary.
Hunts: 25 named elites, one per dungeon, each with a story. They have ×2.4 health, and every one you hunt hangs a trophy on the town wall.

Stories and questlines

4 townsfolk stories (The Ledger Affair, The Quiet Bell, Tempered in the Deep, Strays of the Deep) and 17 sellsword questlines. Story steps don't count toward the contract limit. Finishing a sellsword's questline earns their loyalty perk and, for some, a signature item.

Reputation

The Watch, The Chapel, The Guild: every quest earns standing with the faction that posted it.

Reputation per quest: 20 + 5 per act (featured ×2); story steps +60, a story's last step +150
Standing	Needs	The Watch	The Chapel	The Guild
Friendly	150	Smithy upgrades cost 10% less gold (the Watch's armoury deal).	Potion refills cost 25% less.	Mystery caches cost 10% less; board rerolls half price.
Honoured	450	+1 standing offer on the board; hunts pay +15% gold.	+1 standing offer on the board; injured sellswords heal twice as fast.	+1 standing offer on the board; a second featured contract every day.
Revered	1000	Reputation shop: the Watch-Captain's Greatcloak and the Night-Lantern.	Reputation shop: Maren's Censer and the Bell-Bronze Band.	Reputation shop: the Delver's Lucky Coin and Pipsnizzle's Borrowed Satchel.
Exalted	2000	Town: the Watch's standards fly over the gate. Hunt trophies get a proper rack.	Town: candle-lit shrines and stained-glass light at the Chapel.	Town: Guild pennants and paper lanterns over the market stalls.

The Expedition Table

Send up to 3 idle sellswords to a dungeon you've cleared. They come home with gold, materials, items, sometimes a pet egg, and a journal of what went wrong.

Longer trips bring home more, but a little less per hour, and risk more injuries
Trip	Loot ×	Journal days	Injury risk ×
15 min	×0.3	1	×0.35
1 hour	×1	2	×0.7
4 hours	×3.4	4	×1
8 hours	×6	6	×1.15

Tavern level	Crews on the road	Furthest act
1	1	Act 1
2	1	Act 2
3	2	Act 3
4	2	Act 4
5	3	Act 5

Role	What they bring
Shieldwall	+12% party power: somebody holds the line.
Field Medic	Injury chance halved.
Light Fingers	+25% gold: they know where the good stuff is.
Arcane Eye	+50% essence and crystals.
Beast-Wise	Egg finds twice as likely.

Each crew member's injury chance grows the further the crew's power falls short (3% to 45% before the trip's risk); an injury means a rest of 0.5 h, 1 h, 2 h by severity. Nobody dies on an expedition.
Crew members earn road experience: Green → Seasoned (4) → Veteran (12) → Hardened (25) → Road-Legend (45); each rank is worth +1 level on the road.
Every estimate shows the real odds, and outcomes are fixed when the crew leaves: reloading never rerolls them.