Faction Rules - What do we like?

[zottel]

For factions, I really like the presentation used in Mausritter.
An Example from the book/SRD:

It's concise and to the point, and I think it would be usable as is during play, although I have had no chance to use it yet.
There are rules to advance, players can have direct impact, and it shows consequences quite well. When a goal is reached, it becomes a resource, and help reaching further goals.
Of course, the goals get immediately intertwined with other factions, without getting overly complicated. I like it quite a lot.

 

[VHawkwinter]

The difficulty with factions is often that it really hard for the players to get a solid grip on. Here I'm talking about games with multiple factions. Complex webs of relationships are tough to portray at the table.

Those are my preferred campaign type.

The character would have an intuitive understanding of who likes who, who hates who, how they're likely to react if X and so forth. To provide an approximation of that same knowledge for the players requires some tools.

I think my usual way to approach this has been to have the players learn it ingame, and start out as characters who don't know the city. But I don't mind knowledge checks, and then I would build and consult a lookup table to determine how rare local knowledge is and if it's limited to a specific subset of the local populace, whether the PCs are in it.

And to have some ways to learn things In game is also good.

There's a reason it's so much easier to run a city when the PC are outsiders - you don't have to worry about local knowledge.

Very true.

A lot of games where the players are supposed to be locals devolve into frustrating mother may I sessions.

Also a risk. This is a good discussion. I think strategies on how to reduce the arbitrary fiat-ness of handling local knowledge is a good topic. I have some opinions I can share in ~12h but I would be interested to hear what others think on the topic.

 

[Fenris-77]

For factions, I really like the presentation used in Mausritter.
An Example from the book/SRD:
View attachment 433246

It's concise and to the point, and I think it would be usable as is during play, although I have had no chance to use it yet.
There are rules to advance, players can have direct impact, and it shows consequences quite well. When a goal is reached, it becomes a resource, and help reaching further goals.
Of course, the goals get immediately intertwined with other factions, without getting overly complicated. I like it quite a lot.

I should have mentioned Mausritter in the OP - those faction rules are slick.

 

[Fenris-77]

Those are my preferred campaign type.


I think my usual way to approach this has been to have the players learn it ingame, and start out as characters who don't know the city. But I don't mind knowledge checks, and then I would build and consult a lookup table to determine how rare local knowledge is and if it's limited to a specific subset of the local populace, whether the PCs are in it.

And to have some ways to learn things In game is also good.


Very true.


Also a risk. This is a good discussion. I think strategies on how to reduce the arbitrary fiat-ness of handlingf the local knowledge is a good topic. I have some opinions I can share in ~12h but I would be interested to hear what others think on the topic.P

Part of the problem is that the players are asked to remember this stuff when they are only playing once a week or every two weeks. For a multi faction game a player could easily go months before faction X shows back up in the game.

Part of what I'm talking about is first, how factions are presented, and second, tracking on the players side. Both in terms of being able to reacquaint oneself with the faction status quo pretty much at a glance. Presentation matters because everything is easier to remember when format provides a set list of 'things' with the same things presented for each faction (or NPC, or dungeon room, etc). The Mausritter example above is a great example of a simple faction presentation.

I'm finding the more I fiddle with things the closer my faction writeups get to my NPC writeups. More moving parts, but the same base - beliefs and motivation.

 

[BenjaminPey]

Strange that nobody mentioned fronts (though I guess this is very close to how Mausritter does this):

A faction might be (and is, in most pbtas) represented as a front. So: an agenda (a "fundamental scarcity", AW would say), a type of danger (what kind of threats it can muster, what one would confront by going against it), and grim portents (what would happen if left to its own devices). Custom moves, too (how they alter the rules).

 

[Fenris-77]

Strange that nobody mentioned fronts (though I guess this is very close to how Mausritter does this):

A faction might be (and is, in most pbtas) represented as a front. So: an agenda (a "fundamental scarcity", AW would say), a type of danger (what kind of threats it can muster, what one would confront by going against it), and grim portents (what would happen if left to its own devices). Custom moves, too (how they alter the rules).

I thought about fronts when I wrote the OP but decided against making a big list. Fronts are awesome.

 

[zarionofarabel]

I was also including how factions are presented in a given sysdem, what information is included etc. So not just mechanical stuff.

Oh. Uh, the general lack of interplay and interconnectivity being explained with different factions in settings is often an issue IMHO. Designers come up with all these cool groups and personalities and what they represent or a fighting for, but then never bother to explain how said groups of persons interact with each other. I can't really point to any games as doing a particularly good job of it, but in some of the older L5R books and WoD stuff at least had little blurbs on how each of the clans saw or treated members of other clans. It wasn't anything in depth, but at least it gave a hint as to how said clans interacted with each other.

 

[zerofor]

Most of my experience with faction systems comes with that used in Sine Nomine's Stars Without Number. The design philosophy behind it is to have something for creation of potential adventure hooks & background events for a campaign.

Factions can be tracked on a spreadsheet, with individual factions (optionally) having their own sheets.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

System's I've used, gently, because none of my games have ever gotten long-term enough for me to really push the factions around or to engage with the faction mini-game.

* Without Number
a|state and most FitD I guess
Urban Shadows

And then there's World of Darkness is basically entirely about the factions aka clans aka paths aka sects aka tribes aka traditions aka it goes on and on deeper and wider. Having only really played the TCG, I can't speak to the rules in play.

Purpose of factions moving in the background is to help the world feel real - if you do nothing to stop the Bloodhound Gang, your neighborhood is going to suffer. But if you deal with the Bloodhound Gang, who's off negotiating with the Corpocracy then? And who forgot to pay off the Lamplighter Magistrates this quarter - they're all up in our business now?!?

 

[Tonguez]

Strange that nobody mentioned fronts (though I guess this is very close to how Mausritter does this):

A faction might be (and is, in most pbtas) represented as a front. So: an agenda (a "fundamental scarcity", AW would say), a type of danger (what kind of threats it can muster, what one would confront by going against it), and grim portents (what would happen if left to its own devices). Custom moves, too (how they alter the rules).

I do the following for my factions now combining Fronts, some Blades in the Dark Turf rules and pushing PC Hooks I came up with this:

NAME: Redbrand Bandits	TYPE: Criminal Street Gang (Level 2)
TERRITORY: Phandalin and Surrounding Area Local Trade Routes	STABILITY: +2/5 Lieutenant jostle for power, Glasstaff has respct but not loyalty.
PURPOSE To extort Phandalin for profit	Long-Term: to gain control the local Trade Routes
Approach: Intimidation, Extortion, Violence	PC Inroads: Impress a Lieutenant or do a "simple job",
Structure: Ruffians: Minor Thugs, loud, disposable Lieutenants: Street Captains, the visible face, each carving out his own little territory Leader: Iarno Glasstaff, he prefers the shadows, stays out of the limelight	NPCs: Iarno Glasstaff (Leader - Wizard) Lieutenants (3) the Bruiser (controls the extortion racket) the Smiler (trying to manipulate the council) the Banker (coin is power - so control the coin purse)
Holdings: Secure Hideout Secure Warehouses Black Market (Weapons, Drugs, Magic Item)	Assets: Minor magic Items Glasstaff (Arcane Boons) Informants Network
Allies - Local Bandits Bugbear Mercenaries Tolerated by Zhentarim (for now!)	Rivals - Town Authorities Harpers Cragmaw Goblins
GRIM PORTENTS Townsfolk openly intimidated Redbrand numbers swell Cragmaw retaliation raids begin Trade routes become unsafe Harpers initiate covert investigation Open conflict in the streets IMPRENDING DOOM: Phandalin becomes a criminal stronghold	PLAYER HOOKS Direct Conflict Oppose the Rebrand and hunt down their leadership Infiltration Work for the Redbrands Climb the ranks from thug to lieutenant, choosing who to betray along the way Cut In Start your own gang and try to get a cut of the action Gang War Tip off the Cragmaws and let chaos bloom

Anyway as you see I love Factions they are a great worldbuilding tools that help signal what's important in the campaign, provide clear NPC motivation and help anchor PC engagement within the ongoing narrative of the world.