Factionless Characters: When sometimes your concept dosnt link up with a Faction.

[Tyranthraxus]

Hi,

I ran a table recently which had 3/6 characters as 'Factionless'. The players all had access to the faction documents, yet still decided that they didnt want to join a faction. One player told me it was because it didnt really fir with his character, another player said they didnt like any of the ones on offer and the 3rd player said he didnt see enough uses for Renown to justify joining a faction. (This player knows about Secret Missions but still dosnt think that there are enough benefits there for him)

It did get me thinking though. One of my DM credit characters Valeria is not a faction member either, she is a mercenary adventurer who lives for the next pay packet. She thinks ill of the Zhentarim (for the iron grip they once had over her Birthplace of Zhentil Keep, but she thinks any loyalty beyong loyalty to ones party and coin is overextending yourself.

Does anyone else have any factionless characters? Have you had an issue where a character in your group died and was not in a faction?

 

[kalani]

Being factionless is a disadvantage overall, but is certainly a valid concept. Level 1-4 factionless do not benefit from faction charity upon death, and so are at greater risk of dying. Upon reaching level 5 however, only those characters who participate in Expeditions will see any real benefit from being affiliated with a faction. Such characters can participate in faction secret missions in order to increase their faction rank, with rank 3 Faction Members having unique downtime activities they can perform in certain cities (Mulmaster and Hillsfar currently).

 

[Nevvur]

I stress to my players that there are only benefits in belonging to a faction (and of course I bring up the Raise Dead charity). I also point out you can quit a faction whenever you want.

Generally, I think new player aversion to the factions has a lot more to do with feeling beholden to faction authorities/principles than it does with fitting a character concept. They think they're going to miss out on something by selecting a faction (as if they'll be eligible for all faction missions by being unaffiliated??), or be required to do something they don't want to. The exact opposite is true. Membership opens up opportunities, and faction assignments are always voluntary.

I only met one player who insisted on not having a faction, even after I explained the benefits. Incidentally, his character died on the second session, and the player never returned to our table. I wasn't trying to punish him for his choice to abstain from faction membership, of course. He made an awful tactical decision, and his "allies" made no attempt to stabilize him when his plan didn't work out so well.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Ive had issues in the past with a lot of my newer players coming to the table with Birdmen premade or Aasimar (without the cert) or rolled stats etc. You name it Ive probably seen it. It dosnt happen so much anymore but it was the fact 3/6 were factionless interested me. They certainly know of the factions, but I think bar qualifying for the extra renown in some missions (and to be honest) a lot of my players arnt doing what they need to do to get that faction extra renown.. (it just happens sometimes). Very few people have used faction charity.

When I build characters Faction is often the last thing I think of. Brother Jarom my Monk of Savras was easily Order of the Gauntlet but Valeria just really didnt fit any of the factions.. and he was and is pretty opposed to the Zhentarim. Sure she may never get played and to be honest Faction selection was an afterthought for this character.

Of course this brings up the question: Can a character change factions and if so is their renown the same? The system really isnt setup to even consider that.

 

[kalani]

As stated on p4 of the PG - if you change factions, you lose all renown and associated benefits (inc. faction contacts, rank benefits, etc)

ALPG p4
One Faction Only. You can be a member of only one faction at a time. If you ever switch factions or decide to become unaffiliated, you lose all benefits and renown associated with your former faction. The factions aren’t kind to traitors or deserters.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Excellent. Thanks for picking that up and pointing it out. It hasnt happened locally yet but now I know what to do when it happens.

 

[GreenTengu]

You are looking for a job.

Only 5 companies in town are willing to hire you.
You turn them all down because they don't work with your "concept".

Maybe your "concept" is so antagonistic and anti-social that they deserve to be homeless on the street. If someone is so up their own rear that they are unwilling to accept sponsorship, then chances are they are going to be so WAY too much to actually get along with an adventuring party and go along with the group consensus. It is almost certain that is going to be the person who is going to split the party by deciding to go their own way when they decide whatever the party is doing doesn't "fit" their "concept"... or worse, will be antagonistic and violent towards every NPC and generally take extreme actions on behalf of the party that none of the rest of them will agree to.


If the character you made is someone who is unwilling to work for any of the 5 companies that are hiring, then they aren't going to have anything to do with the party and are free to go live out on the street. Ask the player to create a different character who can manage to get along with the factions and party well enough that being part of an organization isn't the very antithesis of their being, while they needn't be an outspoken, zealous supporter of everything the faction does, they should at least be social enough that they are content enough to wear a badge and accept the benefits of doing so.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Which might be true Hobgoblin if the rules didnt ALLOW for people to be factionless. THere is no rule stating that a person must be a faction member. In fact I know of several scenarios that call out how to get factionless characters involved.

Ill even point out that the Factions dont really even gell with some of the Modules we are seeing. Faction importance does not really integrate into Hoard of the Dragon Queen until much later into the story (and even then the connections are tenous at best).

Princes of the Apocalypse gives ins on the story for characters who are members of a faction, but also has many other options and ways of getting the character involved.

Now Ive not played or run Out of the Abyss. Im hestitant to comment on the role of the Factions within that Module, but Im going to guess because of the time spent in far flung locations, the reliability of each of the factions and the characters to access those factions is going to be limited.

Thats the Modules.

The Scenarios for Expeditions? As mentioned several have ins for factionless characters. Several scenarios also are tailored tailored towards 1-2 factions.. (letsay Emerald Enclave and Lords Alliance). Each faction wants the characters to do something for them. People not of those factions have an in by being in the same party as those characters that are in the factions. As each faction has been told to play nice then there is no issue there. Factionless characters are essentially adventurers who have already been travelling with their fellows, its up to the dm to decide how that came together.

In my groups since a lot of the time Ive got the same players and the same characters its a case of 'You have been travelling with George since your last adventure'. It works surprisingly well. Hell some dms dont even bother with that. Its sit down, get the game on, you guys all start together in Blahtown and this is what you are asked to do.

Of the 3 characters Ive mentioned, Crawmash is a Barbarian who hits things. The player is there to have fun playing his rather .. well stupid Barbarian who dont really interact with the npcs. Hes actually left conversations with npcs because hes 'bored'. Of late he developed an indefinite madness and an infatuation with another party member.. and Ill probably use that to explain why hes hung around for the next scenario.

There was Alias the Half Elf Rogue (Assassin of course.. nobody locally plays anything else but this subclass). Alias is an odd duck. The player spends a lot of time on his phone laughing to himself (obviously watching something) and Ive often got to mention his name a few times and then have to re-explain whats happening. Once he gets going thats okay. Ive never asked him why he didnt join a faction.. he just didnt want to.

The final character is a Wizard. That player is actually the most likely to read these forums so Ill be careful. They know full well of the factions but again have chosen not to join one. THe character typically is a ranged attack character and I find it very difficult to get a read on the motivations of that particular character.

The best way to describe the roleplaying on my table is ..well... focused at times. They had a lot of fun with a recent scenario from season 3 but at times actually wanted to FAIL their Wisdom saving throws to get in on the madness stuff as the people under the effects were having a great time.

Im just not sure yet if thats a good thing or a bad thing.

 

[Mirtek]

Frankly my chatacters might just as well be without factions. Other than the safety net at 1-4 there's nothing that i'd consider worth burning DT for. Maybe rank 4 will show something worth the cost (if i not to retire at 11 anyway since if all T3 is 8h mods, that's too much logistical trouble for me)

 

[skerritthegreen]

if all T3 is 8h mods

They are not.