PHB 2 Afflitations - are you using them?

[Psion]

This is one of those things that looks mechanically plausible, but I'm not sure that it's results are enough better than fiat to warrant the extra tabulation.

And I feel D&D has enough tabulation as it is.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

I've been using the PHB II Affiliations rules in my campaigns for years, and we've always enjoyed them. I recommend involving the executive powers in play as soon as possible. Perhaps the guild boss could consult with the PC before using such a power, perhaps an Affiliation score of 15 puts the PC on a council that votes on whether or not the guild boss can use these powers, or perhaps the PCs are simply victims or beneficiaries of executive powers. The point is to make executive powers appear in the campaign sooner rather than later. For one thing, they're fun, but also, they will appear unnatural and out of place if a previously sleepy world suddenly sees an outbreak of plagues, shadow wars, and crusades simply because a PC reached a 30 affiliation score.

As the rules in the chapter say, creating an affiliation is more of an art than a science. The guidelines and samples presented in the chapter are exactly that: guidelines. As Col Pladoh says, "It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules, which is important."

About the "free benefits," while it is certainly possible to write down an affiliation that gives benefits for free, I wouldn't advise it. Instead, I think that the benefits an affiliation grants should be balanced by duties, obligations, and violent threats: mandatory tithing, assassination attempts as you rise within the guild, enemies made because of you joining the guild, study (place a number of ranks in an otherwise "useless" skill), and so on.

 

[Droogie]

I think the rules have definite possibilites. You could run entire wars between nations in the background without having to resort to mass combat rules. A DM so inclined could run a rules-lite Birthright type of game.

They need tweaking, of course. I think its a bit harsh to take a -10/-5 point hit on all factions you join after the first. I'd house rule that you only take the hit if the affiliations have a conflict of interest, and then only if the opposed groups know about your involvement (Such a relationship would make for juicy spy/infiltration scenarios). What about allied factions? Sub-factions? If Pelorism is the official religion of the Kingdom of Florin, shouldn't you get a few extra points in the Kingdom if you're high-ranking in the Church and vice-versa? What about Baronies and cities in the Kingdom?

Compared to WotC's treatment of affiliations in previous books, this seems to be the crunchiest yet. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not looking forward to the amount of work it will take to implement - just sitting here, I can think of a bunch of factions in my game that I would love to give the full write-up.

 

[Davelozzi]

I only finished this chapter this morning, so I certainly have not used them in my game yet. I probably won't use them as written. I like the affiliations as organizations, and might use one or two of them, with some tweaking. However, the specific rules about how to use them seem like a needless complication to me.

 

[ashockney]

I also like the concept and see it as a terrific way that tabletop RPG can differentiate itself from online computer RPG's. I primarily play in the FR, which is ripe with opportunities such as these affiliations. There are literally countless great opportunities. I would definitely like to second the motion to have a "community" supported effort to combine forces and do a good treatment of the FR affiliations, and would be happy to lend a hand in that regard. I've not used them in game, however, the concept I've used for some time. I found it particularly useful/relevant to the higher level game.

 

[Remathilis]

Yes, I'm using them to represent Planescape factions. I think they give incentive for players to keep their faction in mind without providing overpowering benefits. They are basically free benefits though, so I would say they're not for every game and I would feel very conflicted being asked to allow one of the affiliations from the book.

OOOOOHHHH!!! Send those to me please! I've missed faction benefits since 2e and don't like feats/PrCs representing faction devotion...

 

[kigmatzomat]

I've skimmed them and I've been using something conceptually similar for years. The PHB II system is much more formalized, where mine's been more of a "seat of the pants" circumstance modifier that crops up in some socio-political situations.

It is probably a good thing to have as it provides more advanced ideas for DMs to introduce in their campaign.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Yes, I'm using them to represent Planescape factions.

That's exactly what I'm doing.

 

[MerricB]

I'm beginning to investigate them for my Ulek campaign. I find them very interesting; it's a very "light" system, and one that just gives a framework for the DM to build upon.

Cheers!

 

[Blue Sky]

I plan on using them, with Penumbra's Dynasties and Demagogues, to do a highly political game set in Sharn. I think I'm going to set it up so that there are affiliations for each group in Sharn (Baromars, Morgrave University, etc) as well as affiliations for each councilor's ward. I figure each ward would be "non-exclusive" for group affiliations, with each group giving a plus or minus to political rank in certain wards.

Of course, I have to finish my current game first, but I'm biting at the bullet to try them out.