Factions

Factions are the threads that weave the political and social tapestry of the world. Whether they are thieves' guilds ruling a city from its underworld, orders of chivalry sworn to uphold order through their codes of conduct, arcane conclaves whose secret aims threaten to unravel the very fabric of reality, or heretical cults led by figures hidden behind powerful names, these organizations pursue agendas of their own. Those agendas may clash with the group's goals, and their resources may be offered to a character in exchange for fulfilling certain obligations.

When building an adventure or campaign, it is always worth having the GM think about the factions caught up in the situation, whether as villains who throw obstacles in the group's path or as allies who send the group off on missions and jobs in exchange for rewards.

Types of Factions

The following list suggests a few common types of factions the GM can use to create their own and populate the group's adventuring world.

Arcane Conclaves

Societies of intellectuals and scholars devoted to studying the foundations of reality.

MEMBERS: Reclusive academics, curious youths, librarians, and theorists of the occult.

BENEFITS: Access to restricted libraries, well-equipped laboratories, and the chance to put questions to very important sages.

OBLIGATIONS: Catalog magical phenomena in dangerous places, transcribe ancient grimoires, and recover mysterious magical artifacts.

Bardic Colleges

Unions of artists and storytellers that shape public opinion and control the spread of rumors.

MEMBERS: Tavern musicians, poets, actors, and spies who use art as a disguise.

BENEFITS: The ability to clear someone's reputation or defame an enemy, plus free entry into castles and feasts.

OBLIGATIONS: Compose songs glorifying the faction, act as messengers for specific rumors, and sway a crowd through their performances.

Explorers' Leagues

Adventurers dedicated to mapping the unknown and rediscovering what time has forgotten.

MEMBERS: Cartographers, guides, and adventurers who can never stay in one place.

BENEFITS: Access to ancient dungeon maps and priority on expeditions funded by great cities.

OBLIGATIONS: Map the blank areas of the world, record the dangers of each region, and recover historical documents from ruins.

Hidden Cults

Secret societies that serve forgotten entities or seek power through forbidden means.

MEMBERS: Exiled heretics, nobles bored with morality, and desperate souls seeking answers in the occult.

BENEFITS: Knowledge of the weaknesses of legendary monsters and access to rituals that let them "bend" social or natural rules.

OBLIGATIONS: Keep the identities of the other members absolutely secret, perform rituals on specific dates, and sabotage the temples of established deities.

Hospitaller Brotherhoods

Organizations focused on stamping out plagues and aiding the helpless, often operating as neutral ground in wars.

MEMBERS: Midwives, field surgeons, plague doctors, and community herbalists.

BENEFITS: Neutral status in conflicts, access to archives on anatomy and rare diseases, and a supply of bandages and healing herbs.

OBLIGATIONS: Establish quarantines in infested settlements, gather medicinal roots in dangerous places, and give aid to refugees along escape routes.

Intelligence Agencies

Secret societies that keep watch over the world to prevent power from concentrating in the hands of tyrants or malevolent entities.

MEMBERS: Spies, wandering minstrels, former royal advisors, and masked vigilantes.

BENEFITS: Use of a network of allies, access to safe houses in hostile cities, and advance word on the movements of dangerous factions.

OBLIGATIONS: Watch and report on the activities of suspicious nobles, recover powerful artifacts before they fall into the wrong hands, and rescue hostages from the clutches of dangerous organizations.

Mercenary Bands

Armed companies that sell their military expertise to the highest bidder.

MEMBERS: Deserters, soldiers without a homeland, and adventurers who value gold above ideology.

BENEFITS: Guaranteed hire from local rulers and access to quartermasters who sell weapons and equipment.

OBLIGATIONS: Serve as bodyguards at tense meetings, stand on the front line during sieges, and keep silent about their employers' identities.

Merchant Syndicates

Powerful associations that dictate the prices of goods and ensure the safety of trade routes.

MEMBERS: Innkeepers, caravan masters, merchants, and seasoned navigators.

BENEFITS: Financial credit at banks affiliated with the syndicate, priority on luxury transport, and contacts in port cities.

OBLIGATIONS: Sabotage competitors' logistics, discover new travel routes, and recover lost shipments.

Monster Hunter Orders

Organizations dedicated to eliminating creatures that threaten villages and cities and that the common guard cannot handle.

MEMBERS: Survivors of monster attacks, beast specialists, trackers, and hunters.

BENEFITS: Gold bounties, access to detailed bestiaries listing monster weaknesses, and legal permission to carry exotic weapons within settlements.

OBLIGATIONS: Answer the calls of villages under attack by legendary beasts, perform autopsies on unknown creatures to understand new threats, and clear out monster nests in inconvenient places.

Noble Courts

Influential families and their servants vying for political control of cities and kingdoms.

MEMBERS: Diplomats, trusted advisors, elite spies, and disgraced heirs.

BENEFITS: Invitations to high-society events, influence over local laws, and protection against certain criminal accusations.

OBLIGATIONS: Deliver confidential diplomatic messages, gather compromising secrets on rivals, and represent the court in negotiations.

Orders of Chivalry

Brotherhoods of arms focused on protection and the upholding of order.

MEMBERS: Sons of nobles, war veterans, and idealists in search of a purpose.

BENEFITS: Free lodging in any settlement, diplomatic immunity in allied territories, and access to warhorses.

OBLIGATIONS: Patrol infested roads, escort caravans of civilians, and publicly challenge tyrants or beasts that plague a region.

Religious Institutions

Organized orders that serve the interests and dogmas of a specific deity.

MEMBERS: Wandering preachers, orphans raised in temples, zealots, and community leaders.

BENEFITS: Free medical care at temples, moral authority over the devout population, and access to sacred relics.

OBLIGATIONS: Collect tithes in isolated villages, convert new faithful, and carry out rites of purification in cursed places.

Thieves' Guilds

Clandestine networks that control the flow of illicit goods and shadowy information.

MEMBERS: Street orphans, informants, gamblers, and those who live on the margins of the law.

BENEFITS: Access to the black market, safe hideouts within settlements, and contacts among smugglers for quick escapes.

OBLIGATIONS: Collect protection fees, plant false evidence on opponents, and "map out" guard patrol routes.