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Planescape: Fantasy Taken to the Edge (5e conversion)
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6355173" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>In my tackling of this, I basically put the "more powerful" faction abilities into Inspiration. The Harmonium background, for instance, lets you charm someone, but only if you spend your faction-specific Inspiration to do so (so Harmonium members that don't really risk anything for their belief just have the mundane training and guild-like membership benefits, while those that do can shape the multiverse according to their beliefs). </p><p></p><p>That Inspiration ability could be acquired even if you didn't take the background, by signing up as a member with the faction and living that faction's beliefs (since handing out Inspiration is in the hands of the DM anyway). In fact, it's entirely separate from the in-world organization of the faction -- if someone lives the beliefs of the Dustmen, in a PS game, they should probably earn inspiration for that, even if they DON'T belong to the faction officially. </p><p></p><p>I'm not sure they're all the most thoroughly balanced, but they're all evocative and interesting ways to spend Inspiration, which was the primary goal here. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> Balance can come with iteration. </p><p></p><p>The "feature" of every faction was basically the little membership benefits that being a member gives you. Access to the faction HQ, training, libraries, lore, dormitories, and a way to get to the faction's planar HQ. More about linking you to the setting. </p><p></p><p>For those of other backgrounds who join the faction anyway (like, a Noble who joins the Bleakers), they don't really get the feature, meaning essentially that this character is more embedded in the setting according to their actual background than their faction membership. A Noble Bleaker is more defined by being a noble than by being a Bleaker, though they are both (and can receive Inspiration for adhering to the Bleaker philosophy as well, and spend it on the Bleaker-specific ability). It matters more what family they're from than what soup kitchen they work at. </p><p></p><p>So separating out the more powerful special ability into the Inspiration mechanic leaves room for these kinds of distinctions. For instance, a member of the Dust who was a Hermit might be someone who spends most of their time at the <a href="http://dungeonsdragons.wikia.com/wiki/Fortress_of_the_Soul" target="_blank">Fortress of the Soul</a> contemplating death and who discovered some truth via that. They'd be a member of the Dust, but they wouldn't really use the Mortuary or the Catacombs or become a corpse-collector or make regular use of the portal leading back to the Fortress. They're defined more by their secret discovery than by their faction membership (though they can gain faction inspiration and benefit from the Dead Truce just like any other factioneer).</p><p></p><p>As a side benefit, this also helps me weave in the faction restrictions from 2e. An Athar member is free to accept healing from a priest of a specific god -- but refusing such healing on the basis of faction belief would be an <em>excellent</em> reason to award an Athar member Inspiration, thus tying the use of their faction ability precisely to the action of adhering to your belief.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 6355173, member: 2067"] In my tackling of this, I basically put the "more powerful" faction abilities into Inspiration. The Harmonium background, for instance, lets you charm someone, but only if you spend your faction-specific Inspiration to do so (so Harmonium members that don't really risk anything for their belief just have the mundane training and guild-like membership benefits, while those that do can shape the multiverse according to their beliefs). That Inspiration ability could be acquired even if you didn't take the background, by signing up as a member with the faction and living that faction's beliefs (since handing out Inspiration is in the hands of the DM anyway). In fact, it's entirely separate from the in-world organization of the faction -- if someone lives the beliefs of the Dustmen, in a PS game, they should probably earn inspiration for that, even if they DON'T belong to the faction officially. I'm not sure they're all the most thoroughly balanced, but they're all evocative and interesting ways to spend Inspiration, which was the primary goal here. :) Balance can come with iteration. The "feature" of every faction was basically the little membership benefits that being a member gives you. Access to the faction HQ, training, libraries, lore, dormitories, and a way to get to the faction's planar HQ. More about linking you to the setting. For those of other backgrounds who join the faction anyway (like, a Noble who joins the Bleakers), they don't really get the feature, meaning essentially that this character is more embedded in the setting according to their actual background than their faction membership. A Noble Bleaker is more defined by being a noble than by being a Bleaker, though they are both (and can receive Inspiration for adhering to the Bleaker philosophy as well, and spend it on the Bleaker-specific ability). It matters more what family they're from than what soup kitchen they work at. So separating out the more powerful special ability into the Inspiration mechanic leaves room for these kinds of distinctions. For instance, a member of the Dust who was a Hermit might be someone who spends most of their time at the [URL="http://dungeonsdragons.wikia.com/wiki/Fortress_of_the_Soul"]Fortress of the Soul[/URL] contemplating death and who discovered some truth via that. They'd be a member of the Dust, but they wouldn't really use the Mortuary or the Catacombs or become a corpse-collector or make regular use of the portal leading back to the Fortress. They're defined more by their secret discovery than by their faction membership (though they can gain faction inspiration and benefit from the Dead Truce just like any other factioneer). As a side benefit, this also helps me weave in the faction restrictions from 2e. An Athar member is free to accept healing from a priest of a specific god -- but refusing such healing on the basis of faction belief would be an [I]excellent[/I] reason to award an Athar member Inspiration, thus tying the use of their faction ability precisely to the action of adhering to your belief. [/QUOTE]
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