I wasn't planning on keeping the players in the dark. Part of what makes this whole endeavor work is the players knowing how the factions relate to each other. I want to leave the players a lot of latitude to figure out how to use the political currents to their own advantage, for which they definitely need information and lots of it. I'm also going to be hacking some mechanics specifically to allow information gathering in a variety of ways, so it's not going to be too fuzzy.
My faction mechanics are simple as pie, that's why I'm still working on them. Not to add layers or detail to the rules, but to pare the rules down to the absolute minimum necessary to accomplish what I want. There aren't actually faction mechanics btw, at it's root it's just a reputation stat, faction specific Reputation bonuses, and some rules for making contacts and what those can do in game terms (either exchange for a favor or keep to buff faction rep mostly). The detail that's added is to massage the current downtime and SIP rules to add favors/contacts as outcomes. It's not that different than what's in DMG already, I'm just streamlining things so that all the rules work together and have common outcomes.
In the broadest strokes Reputation gates access to NPCs and social events. You just compare scores and you know whether you can get invited to an event or get a meeting (or whatever), or whether you need to go about it in a different way (gain rep or confidence tricks). Rep will grow organically in the course of completing story arcs and also by specific design on the part of the PCs to further a plan of action. The story will be what drives PCs to try and gain access to person or event, not so much the mechanics. The mechanics are just there to keep score and to give the PCs a concrete handle on social encounter success and failure.
My faction mechanics are simple as pie, that's why I'm still working on them. Not to add layers or detail to the rules, but to pare the rules down to the absolute minimum necessary to accomplish what I want. There aren't actually faction mechanics btw, at it's root it's just a reputation stat, faction specific Reputation bonuses, and some rules for making contacts and what those can do in game terms (either exchange for a favor or keep to buff faction rep mostly). The detail that's added is to massage the current downtime and SIP rules to add favors/contacts as outcomes. It's not that different than what's in DMG already, I'm just streamlining things so that all the rules work together and have common outcomes.
In the broadest strokes Reputation gates access to NPCs and social events. You just compare scores and you know whether you can get invited to an event or get a meeting (or whatever), or whether you need to go about it in a different way (gain rep or confidence tricks). Rep will grow organically in the course of completing story arcs and also by specific design on the part of the PCs to further a plan of action. The story will be what drives PCs to try and gain access to person or event, not so much the mechanics. The mechanics are just there to keep score and to give the PCs a concrete handle on social encounter success and failure.
I've never played and couldn't find a copy online when you mentioned it (yes, I did look, rather hard). I also live thousands of miles from the closest FLGS. So unless someone gives me specifics...
