And remember that real-world factions are boring. They want simple things like money and power.
Not a single one of them wants to turn the population of the world into dinosaurs....
Creating better factions
- Thread starter rhythmsoundmotion
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And remember that real-world factions are boring. They want simple things like money and power.
Not a single one of them wants to turn the population of the world into dinosaurs....
None…that we know of!
There’s LOTS of crazy out there. What we regularly see is just the tip of the crazyberg. Just a few hours ago, I was shown an interview where someone was claiming that Starbucks was using human bodily fluids (I won’t divulge further details, but the interviewee was VERY specific) to flavor their coffee to make it addictive.
A pro dinomorphic organization could very well exist, flying below our personal radar.
Well, no. Because Spider-Man already took care of it for me.
(and yes, that comic was what I was thinking of.)
I figured! It would be an incredible coincidence if you weren’t, Umbran.
…or is your real name Dr. Karl Lycos (Sauron)?
The representative is easy to forget when thinking of the big picture, but I think it's actually the most important for the game. The Dresden Files RPG has a whole chapter on building your own city within the world of Dresden, and they strongly urge you to give each theme, threat, and important location a Face. The same would go for factions (and I'd recommend giving factions a primary location for interaction as well – not necessarily their HQ, but where PCs would meet them). Oh, and the Face is probably not the boss of the faction in question, at least not if it's a big organization. Consider the TV show Angel, and the villain faction Wolfram & Hart. The Face role there is originally held by Lindsey McDonald and Laila Morgan, though Lindsey eventually leaves town making Laila more of the sole Face. But they are not in charge of W&H, not even locally (that's Holland Manners). Of course, for a smaller faction/location, it's perfectly alright to make the Face the boss as well. To use another example from Angel, look at the Caritas bar and its owner/MC Lorne (before he gets to be a regular and joins Team Angel).
Also, if you're going to make factions important in your setting, it's probably a good idea to lay down some social ground rules that facilitate peaceful interaction even with enemies. It's always more fun to trade barbed words than blows, and it saves you the trouble of having to introduce new villains all the time.
overgeeked
Open-World Sandbox
The HQ or location is generally something I include with resources, but it would be a good idea to make a point of listing it separately.
The other way to go is a faceless mook as your rep for the org. Someone replaceable. Either because they're no one or they're a clone like Weyuon from DS9. Or just give the org, if they're powerful enough, the same easy access to resurrection and speak with dead that the PCs will have after about 5th level. Or the rep is some kind of ghost or parasite that can pass between hosts, like the Trill from DS9 or the bad guy from Fallen, or a cloud of nanites, a drone, a sleeve (Altered Carbon), etc. There's lots you can do with high fantasy or sci-fi nonsense.
Li Shenron
Legend
I was just gonna say the same...
It's not wrong to have realistic factions but the downside could be sameness. My usual preference is actually organized religions, for me they make the best factions because they can have wacky over-the-top borderline purposes (I mean... Ghaunadaur?) with fanatic focus and endless possibilities.
However I also understand that having only religious factions can also be boring so I definitely want room for other more "earthly" groups. Sometimes, classes have been used as a pivot for factions: a Rogues guild, a Paladin order, a Rangers lodge, a Wizards academy... while power and wealth are probably always part of the equation, increasing the relevance of their defining activities can be actually their main purpose. A Wizards faction may want magic to become more forefront in society, a Rangers faction may want the values of forestry and hunting with respect to nature to foster, but rival factions may want the opposite (such as safekeeping magic from everybody else). Then you could also look at backgrounds to create similar factions.
in general though, what I think makes factions relevant in the game is a combination of the following:
- clear identity and long-term purpose
- short-term goals that can generate quests for the PCs
- a list of relationships with others (enemies or allied)
In this direction, I’m reminded of IamRageSparkle‘s tale of the seemingly innocuous neoNazi getting immediately booted from the crustpunk bar.
While the tale-teller was initially confused, the bartender instantly recognized the new guy for what he was- the thin end of the wedge; the foot in the door- and took appropriate action.
In a campaign setting, the low-key representatives of such a reviled organization might merely be shunned or studiously ignored by those in the know. That kind of ostracism might even disarm the party who might not realize there’s a GOOD REASON why others are avoiding that person. That the target isn’t part of some unfairly downtrodden group.
Hell- if the reason was long enough ago, most people might not remember WHY you don’t deal with _________, only that “it’s always been that way, and always will be”.
I did something along those lines in an unused 3.5Ed homebrew. In it, I used seshayans as a race that had once had an enormous Underdark empire so dangerous that most of the other races had banded together to destroy them. While their species had survived, almost all records of the empire had been successfully erased from history. Even the seshayans themselves had no stories of their ancestors’ wicked domination, and Iived among the others mostly as cowering servants.
…then someone found some ruins not so thoroughly destroyed.
Theory of Games
Storied Gamist
Never used 'em.
What exactly are factions and what functions do they have in a ttrpg setting?
What exactly are factions and what functions do they have in a ttrpg setting?
rhythmsoundmotion
Adventurer
So what about factions in the wilderness? How do you invent the complex web of alliances, competitions, and rivalries in a place so different from a city or village?
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