D&D 5E Yes to factionalism. No to racism.

[Charlaquin]

Your personal definitions aside, it's just a matter of time.

'Factions' would require World building, and canon.

Race, subrace.
Background, culture?
Class, subclass.

That's how I could see it working, but perhaps replace culture for faction? Feels a bit video gamey to me though?

I’d make background the subdivision of culture rather than the other way around, but otherwise I like that setup quite a lot.

 

[Scribe]

I’d make background the subdivision of culture rather than the other way around, but otherwise I like that setup quite a lot.

Yeah, so would I, I was going from Wizards current position as the starting point.

 

[Bolares]

You can still have weapons tied to nations, and some nations can be single race cultures... I just find it boring that "all elves get longswords, all dwarves get warhammers"...

 

[Malmuria]

I would love a book (for 5e or fantasy system neutral) of drop-in factions. Each faction write up could include: goals, history, leader(s), assets, roster, and maybe even a lair. This could be accompanied by tools for interrelating factions and creating a campaign based around them. I don't feel like the standard FR factions really do the necessary work to create narrative tension; they seem mostly ancillary.

 

[Bolares]

I would love a book (for 5e or fantasy system neutral) of drop-in factions. Each faction write up could include: goals, history, leader(s), assets, roster, and maybe even a lair. This could be accompanied by tools for interrelating factions and creating a campaign based around them. I don't feel like the standard FR factions really do the necessary work to create narrative tension; they seem mostly ancillary.

The patrons from Eberron and then Tasha are a good template for factions that interact with the player characters...

 

[Yaarel]

@Scribe

As a character concept, you can use the Background mechanic, to represent your Canadian high school education, or your IT work experience, or your D&D hobby, or any other other cultural feature that you want to focus on.

 

[Willie the Duck]

Yes, but then you'd have to make a clear decision in the core books. You either go super generic, giving only ideas of factions, or you commit to a standard setting. The way 5e does FR, but in a multiverse, would be kind of bad if you go for factions...

This is the fundamental issue that has hamstrung D&D in certain places for nearly a half-century -- it refuses to take a firm stand on whether it is a generic fantasy game or has an implied setting.

 

[Scribe]

@Scribe

As a character concept, you can use the Background mechanic, to represent your Canadian high school education, or your IT work experience, or your D&D hobby, or any other other cultural feature that you want to focus on.

Those are distinct 'things'. Culture again would be or should be, distinct from that.

Baseball, Apple Pie, 'Freedom', Free Enterprise, Capitalism, Thanksgiving = American = Culture.

Yes, that is a generalization, and no, I dont really need people jumping down my throat over it, as its there to provide a distinction between ones traditions and upbringing, that are different from Background (IT Training) or Job (IT Professional) which are distinctly NOT Culture.

 

[Tonguez]

why not just turn Alignment in to allegiance as per Modern - so you dont need a new mechanic and Factions and still have allegiance to Evil Lolth or the Knights of Bruce or My Hometown or whatever

 

[Bolares]

If you are gonna put culture/nation on the character cration, I think it should go with race. Race defines physical traits like powerfull build, trance, darkvision, breath weapon, water breathing, and culture would define cultural traits, like coomon skills, tools and weapons. I think it should probably give you a list of options of regular stuff you culture affects and let you choose what of those your character was affected by.