I've read on seperate occasions that if a character with RENOWN just so much as takes part in a challenge they recieve a power token for their house, win or lose, and that this is the power of having RENOWN.

However, I've also heard that with RENOWN you just simply put a power token on that particular character as soon as they are played and leave it there until they die or are discarded or just basically taken out of play for any reason. This power token counts towards your total power amount and cannot be taken from you in a power challenge.

Which of these is correct? Am I supposed to do both with a RENOWN character?

Rule book page 20 right column:

So, to be clear, they claim power for themselves, not for your house.

In that the power counter(s) is added to the character, and not to your house card - yes. Keep in mind though that power on characters counts towards your victory total (power on other card types does not, unless specifically stated on the card or by the keyword "Infamy").

So to clarify --

Put a power token on that particular character as soon as they are played when they win a Challenge and leave it there until they die or are discarded or just basically taken out of play for any reason. This power token counts towards your total power amount and cannot be taken from you in a power challenge.

Characters do not win challenges, players do. And note that only characters controlled by the winning player can claim power for renown, and they claim it regardless of which side they participated on.

and of course... they must also have participated in the challenge to claim power for Renown.

Which I'm sure has been iterated in this thread by quoting the rule book text for Renown.

Khudzlin's point is valid - there are characters who can participate without being controlled by the attacker or defender

At one point I thought giving Walder Frey Renown was a no-brainer ... but of course he was never entitled to claim renown as he was never controlled by the attacked or defender (Melee game)

Khudzlin's point is valid - there are characters who can participate without being controlled by the attacker or defender

At one point I thought giving Walder Frey Renown was a no-brainer ... but of course he was never entitled to claim renown as he was never controlled by the attacked or defender (Melee game)

You need to be careful with a comment like that because you didn't specify that the controller isn't the attacker or the defender in this scenario. Your comment implies that he can never be controlled by the attacker or the defender in melee and that is entirely untrue.

Okay, so anytime a RENOWN character claims a power token for having RENOWN, I'm talking about aside from whatever they win from a power challenge, it ALWAYS goes on that characters card and stays there?

Also, lets say a RENOWN character wins a power challenge with a claim value of 2, does that mean they win 2 power tokens for their house plus one that goes directly on the character or they just simply take both power tokens and put them on the character's card?

Next, does everytime a RENOWN character win a power token for themselves does it always go on their card? That would mean by the end of a particular game you could have a RENOWN character with 6 power tokens on them?

Renown is completely separate from challenge results/claim. It doesn't matter what the challenge type is what the claim value on the attacker's plot card is; Renown will always work the same way.

When a player WINS a challenge (on attack or defense) and after claim is settled (killing characters, discarding cards or moving power tokens) and after any "unopposed" power is taken from the common power pool and placed on the winner's House card, Renown kicks in. For Renown, the winner takes ONE (1) power counter from the common power pool for each participating character he controls with Renown and places it on the character.

The power on the character counts toward the player's victory total. Since the claim of a POW (crown) challenge only allows the winner to steal from the loser's House card, that power is "safe" from being list to a challenge. But if the character dies (or leaves play by any means), any power on it is discarded back to the common pool and lost. There are also other card effects that can discard or steal power from a character card, so the power on a character does not necessarily "stay there," but yes, when the game ends, it is possible for a character to have as much as 15 power on it. It's not even all that unusual in competitive play - although most people try to spread it around.