Multiple Factions?

[Lawrence DuBois]

I'm working on a huge, effectively-sandbox sort of campaign (that I've been working on for a couple of years and fully expect to log a couple more before it's ready - though I've made enough progress that it is seeming completable), and decided that factions would be a great way to flesh out the world through mechanics. Anyway, there are tons of factions in this world, and few if any have influence across all of it, so making players stick to one faction the way that the faction rules in PFS have them do is both a shameful waste for this game, and a problem either mechanically or narratively (either with some players not having access to their faction benefits for portions of the campaign, or allowing small, regional powers to grant boons to players on the other side of the globe).

So here are my initial thoughts on how to do this: players can gain fame with multiple factions (possibly up to a maximum number, possibly not) at once, but must choose one to be their main faction at a given time. All other factions with which they have fame are treated as having half the fame rank the player actually has with that faction. Rewards from non-main factions might also cost one extra PP. Switching main factions requires a certain amount of time (a week? a month?) during which no faction counts as the player's main faction (and so all are treated as having half the fame rank), and may require some small task for the new main faction (although I'm hesitant about this since it could cut into the focus of the party's main adventure). As mentioned above, there may be a maximum on how many "active" factions a player may have, given that there are literally dozens already planned out. Not sure about what sort of rules I should set up for switching out active (non-main) factions, though... I certainly don't want to keep them locked-in, either, since the limit would probably be five or so. Even if every player has five different factions, that's not even a sixth of all the factions I've planned out.

Additionally/alternatively, the Affiliation rules from D&D's PHB2 always intrigued me, but I never got a chance to test drive them since I was introduced/switched over to Pathfinder not long after getting that book. I might consider blending the two rulesets since they don't quite do the same thing, and each has some gaps that the other fills quite nicely.

Yes, preparing all of this would be a ton of work, and managing it all wouldn't be a walk in the park either (part of why I'm considering a limit on the number of active factions), but I have a very bizarre ...love, almost (even I don't understand it), of data-entry and assembling mechanics, so I'm almost salivating at the opportunity to detail all these stats.

So, thoughts? Suggestions? Advice? Experience to share?

[Aralicia]

I may be a bit of a old-timer, but I've always loved the faction system of the game Morrowind. Sadly, it is a bit too complex to handle manually (basically, the player's reputation with a given faction is based on his rank in this faction, his rank in all other factions, and the relation between each of them.)

For such a situation, my approach would probably be this :

Each time a player gain Prestige with a faction, he also gain prestige with friendly factions and loose prestige with hostile factions.
The amount of prestige gained/lost this ways is based on a ratio representing the relationship between the two factions.

Example : We have 3 factions : A, B and C. B is really friendly with A (0.75 ratio); C is unfriendly with A (-0.25 ratio).
If a character gain 2 Prestige with A for his actions, he also gain 2x0.75 = 1.5 prestige with B and loose 2x-0.25 = -0.5 prestige with C.

A character can have negative prestige with a faction, meaning that the faction is unfriendly, if not hostile, toward him.
Fractional prestige is possible, but is considered as the integer nearest to 0 for all purposes (A character can have a prestige of 3.75 with a faction, but he is considered as having a prestige 3. A character with a prestige of -1.5 is considered as having a prestige of -1)
Each faction's prestige is accounted separately. It creates a bit of bookkeeping, but also allows a player to see his character's standing with all factions at a glance (ideally, prestige should be displayed in a tabular fashion)

Even though a character has prestige with most factions, he isn't member of all of them. Unless he explicitly joined them, he is only recognized as friend of the faction.
He must explicitly join a faction to be considered a member, which may require some specific prerequisites and/or action (for example, a character may have to be able to cast divine spells and fast for 8 days to be allow to join the High Temple)

Each faction as a list of public rewards, accessible to non-members with enough prestige; and a list of member-only rewards.

A character may join as many factions as he wish, but must abide to the faction requirements. If a faction require it's members to go to pray to one of the faction temples at least once every week and the character doesn't do that, he may soon see himself booted out.

[Lawrence DuBois]

Aralicia wrote:

Each faction as a list of public rewards, accessible to non-members with enough prestige; and a list of member-only rewards.

Now there's an idea. The one problem for me is that it wouldn't really make sense to be a member of a non-main (let alone inactive) faction, since it would decrease your rank by half (or make its benefits inaccessible), and it also wouldn't make sense to shift around your membership the way I plan for players to shift around their main faction. (More specifically, being a "member" of a faction I would think should be more-or-less permanent, and require a bit of hassle should a player wish to change, while I want a player to be able to switch their main faction fairly frequently should they wish, but not constantly (no more than once every few of adventures, surely) - hence the week of having no main faction.)

As for the shared reputation idea, I did have something like that planned. You gain fame normally (or perhaps with a bonus point each time) with your main faction, an active non-main faction gains fame at half the normal rate, and factions related to your main faction (including inactive ones) will also gain half the fame you receive for your main faction each time your fame with it increases (which does stack with what you get for active factions), but only up to a point - say, fame 10 or 20. After that point, that faction does not gain the bonus fame for being related to your main (and active, non-main factions may have similar, albeit higher cap - say, 20 or 30, not accounting for the halving for not being your main faction). Of course, all of this just counts for "generic" fame increases (doing great deeds, slaying powerful monsters, etc.). Each faction can also have fame increases based on more specific actions that line up with the faction's goals, which will always award full points (at least so long as it's an active faction; undecided for inactive factions).

Honestly, I'm not sure about how I'll track Prestige Points. Already, this is reaching the maximum of extra bookkeeping I'd be keen on doing, and I'd rather not have to track PP separately for each faction for every character (that's just a step too far), so I'll probably have that be a single pool which is added to solely based on your main faction. Players will have a normal amount of PP, they just have more options on how to spend it.

[Goth Guru]

Ex libris(The Library) collects records and witnesses to past events. So if that is your main faction you gain a prest. point by bringing them something for their collection. Something like a complete skull from a nearly forgotten battle might be worth 2 points, and thus still worth 1 even as a second faction.

The Purge is dedicated to eliminating threats to humanity and other persons such as sentient consumables. Telling on such a threat is worth 1 while destroying such a thing is worth 2.

Is that about how this works?

[Lawrence DuBois]

Yeah, pretty much. I suppose for completeness, I should add examples like:

You slay a powerful dragon that has been terrorizing an entire region, and receive 1 point with your main faction, and 1/2 point with each active faction for such an impressive deed, even though none of them are especially affected by it.

The Kingdom of Stromfall has been harrassed by a powerful orc tribe from the north. Defeating their leader, and scattering the tribe earns you 2 points with Stromfall, but also a point with their close ally, Evervale.

I should also point out that these points are all fame, and that only one or two points of prestige are awarded for each of these deeds, regardless of how much total fame is gained across all factions (so, in the case of the case of the dragon, you will only get 1 point of prestige, not 3, even if you have five active factions). Although, that prestige can be spent on rewards from any active faction. This is all to make keeping track of prestige less of a hassle for all involved.

Lastly, I'd like to note that rereading my previous post, I've either changed my mind or didn't say what I meant concerning one or two things; most notably saying that you gain fame with your active factions each time your fame with your main faction increases. This will only count for the "generic" deeds, like slaying that dragon, which aren't tied in with a particular faction (although, a faction like The Dragonstalkers may grant extra fame on top of the "generic" increase).