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Message: <blockquote data-quote="devlin1" data-source="post: 6761224" data-attributes="member: 74208">The Harpers are explicitly secretive. I often see Zhentarim members play their faction affiliation as, if not secret, then not something they want to be overt about.They're not guilds so much as... well, factions who want to advance different agenda. "Guild" implies a professional organization that provides training and employment. Factions don't do that. You could count "going on an adventure" as "employment" here, but since those same employment opportunities would be just as available to a factionless adventurer as they would be to one who's part of a faction, it doesn't really seem relevant. The only thing you really gain out of performing duties for your faction is increased standing in your faction, which, y'know, doesn't exactly pay the rent.There wouldn't be a chargen session anyway. It's a series of one-shots. Strict continuity about how we met, etc. is totally unnecessary.Who's vetting your 1st-level PC who's chosen a faction, then? No one has to give you permission to be in one faction over another. The only that matters is your interest and your PC's alignment.Yes, let there be no middle ground.Because not all factionless PCs are sociopaths.I'm not telling anyone anything! It just seems to make sense for my character, in light of his backstory, that he's not part of a faction. You make it sound like every new PC has to run through a career-guidance seminar put on by representatives of the five factions. On the contrary, it's totally conceivable to have led a pre-1st-level life that involved no contact with the factions at all.I don't understand why you're so determined to make out factionless PCs as being so anti-social. It's like you're equating it with the old notion of Chaotic Neutral -- the old "do anything anytime for no reason" canard. You seem to have a real axe to grind, and I don't get why. My factionless PC is perfectly willing to work with other PCs who have similar aims, but that doesn't mean it's ridiculous for him to not seek out and apply to be a member of a faction.</blockquote>

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