Lost Omens: Faction Guide?

[RiverMesa]

When it comes to worldbuilding, I love factions and organizations that can drive campaigns, as villains, allies or patrons to the PCs, and Pathfinder has some pretty cool ones.

However, while we have some information on 'the big five' in PF2, with one having a dedicated book and another on the way (Pathfinder Society and Knights of Lastwall), there's several more that were given dedicated sections in the Character Guide that in themselves could use dedicated books (Hellknights and Firebrands in particular; not sure if it's too late for a dedicated Magaambya book, but hey, I wouldn't complain!).

But, those are not the only factions that are out there, and a book that talks about them in greater detail and provides thematic rules options for them would be great.

I know there were some books of this sort in 1st edition Pathfinder - Adventurer's Guide in particular, but between the mechanical and narrative changes to the game in the edition switch, it seems like it might be worthwhile to have a book in this vein.

The back of the Character Guide has some brief stuff on a handful that could be greatly expanded upon, especially for those who don't want to go hunting down potentially outdated 1st edition sources:
- The Aldori Swordlords
- Aspis Consortium
- Bellflower Network
- Eagle Knights
- Houses of Perfection
- Lion Blades
- Red Mantis Assassins
- Whispering Way

And looking at the 1e Adventurer's Guide, there's also:
- Al-Zabriti (badly due for a rewrite to be more than a wishy-washy mishmash of Middle Eastern tropes)
- Council of Thieves
- Cyphermages
- Gray Maidens (not sure how the new Korvosa adventure will impact those, though)
- Lantern Bearers
- Mammoth Lords
- Rivethun
- Silver Ravens (are they still a thing?)
- Storm Kindlers

But beyond those, it would be great to see some new organizations from across the world - in Tian Xia and/or Arcadia, for instance. Selfishly, I'd also love information on the Vane, Vidrian's intelligence agency, but that might be a little niche for such a book.

And of course, it'd be a great place to include new uncommon and rare options tied to those - items, archetypes, expansions on existing archetypes (like the Bellflower Tiller or Student of Perfection), spells, and whatnot - classic LO stuff.

Thoughts? Would you want such a book? If so, what would you want to see in it?

[keftiu]

I don’t honestly get too excited about much of this list, but checking in on the Scarlet Rose would make me very happy.

[Set]

I tend to be a sucker for magical societies, mage's guilds and churchly factions, so the Arcanamirium, Cyphermages, Magaambya, Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye and whatever organizations have sprung up in 2E Numeria and Irrisen to fill the voids / take in the stragglers of the Technic League and Winter Witches would be some of my favorite factions to see more of.

Perhaps a Nexian faction, as well, or one related to the refounding of Sarkorian lands and the return of the Godcallers?

And definitely the Kalistocracy!

I kind of wanted to be into the Aldori Swordlords, but gosh, their weapon style is so... boring. Whole lotta hoopla it seemed about something that wasn't particularly flavorful (not even 'powerful,' just not terribly unique, it seemed, I got a tastier feel from the 40 word Orisioni Blade Binder feat that got abandoned than the entire Aldori Swordlord archetype).

[keftiu]

I'd like an organization other than the Magaambya or the Pathfinder Society who has an excuse to range all over Garund. Each of the nations and regions is a lot of fun, but often feel very singular and inside-facing - give me folks who have an excuse to be in Quantium today, Kibwe tomorrow, and Katheer the day after!

[Opsylum]

Firebrands should probably also be included here, as Vidrian was mostly responsible for creating that faction (along with the Silver Ravens). Apart from them, there are several Garund-centric factions concerned with regional agendas but whose influence extends beyond: the Bright Lions, Storm Kindlers, Arclords of Nex, and maybe the Pure Legion. Along with them, general organizations like Green Faith and Aspis Consortium are also pretty common (unfortunately, Aspis's slave trade involvement makes it pretty player character unfriendly — would be nice to have a forward-thinking offshoot in that faction embrace abolition movements as good for business, in light of the disaster that was Sargava). I'm tempted to put the Sparkforge Collective in this category as well, as a faction concerned with technological progress just seems so natural for this corner of the world, what with the likes of Shory, Jistka and Dongun Hold all in pretty close proximity to each other, along with everything spilling over from the trade routes of the Golden Road.

[Opsylum]

As an aside, and while we're talking about potential factions to promote for more Garundi storytelling action, I can't express enough how much I adore the concept of the Storm Kindlers. While everyone else be like: "We're fighting to restore the worship of benevolent gods and end an undead tyrant's reign!" or "We will be the clandestine overlords of all magical research and progress in the world!" or "We will protect the hearts and minds of mortalkind from the predations of those so-called gods!" — the Storm Kindlers be like: "We're gonna surf into a hurricane, yo! We're CRAZY!"

Best. Faction. Ever.

[Paradozen]

keftiu wrote:

I'd like an organization other than the Magaambya or the Pathfinder Society who has an excuse to range all over Garund. Each of the nations and regions is a lot of fun, but often feel very singular and inside-facing - give me folks who have an excuse to be in Quantium today, Kibwe tomorrow, and Katheer the day after!

I would love to see something like this arise from Blood Lords. Nex/Geb tension is a big deal and feels very much like something that people would organize and recruit aid from across the continent to help deal manage. Could be something similar to the Knights of Lastwall who are actively recruiting aid from places far away as well as dealing with problems nearby.

[The Raven Black]

Maybe there already is a secret organization out there doing everything they can to prevent an open war between Geb and Nex.

And willing to do anything to keep it from happening.

TBT I find the concept fascinating.

[keftiu]

The Raven Black wrote:

Maybe there already is a secret organization out there doing everything they can to prevent an open war between Geb and Nex.

And willing to do anything to keep it from happening.

TBT I find the concept fascinating.

I can just picture a private estate on Jalmeray, where some wealthy amurrun is talking over tea with a renegade Arclord, a Dongun forge-baron, and a vampire noble about how best to avert the imminent "tussle" in the region. /Yes, please./

Espionage is an underrated theme for the Impossible Lands, and troubleshooting fantasy super-spies could easily have reasons to poke around in the courts of Qadira, digging into Veiled Master plots in Katapesh, helping out Vidrian and the Bright Lions in the Mwangi...

[RiverMesa]

I'm a complete fool - another big potential pull for such a book would be ready-made NPC stat blocks for each of the factions (both generic and named), spanning a broader range of levels than what we got in the Gamemastery Guide.

[keftiu]

I’d love to see both the Riftwardens get some love as a likely framing device for planar and high level campaigns, and think they would pair nicely with a more formalized Sakorian Reclaimer group.

A Riftwarden AP would make a good 11-20, come to think of it.

[Evan Tarlton]

keftiu wrote:

I’d love to see both the Riftwardens get some love as a likely framing device for planar and high level campaigns, and think they would pair nicely with a more formalized Sakorian Reclaimer group.

A Riftwarden AP would make a good 11-20, come to think of it.

Agreed on all counts. The Riftwardens are a very interesting group with a lot of narrative potential, and I'd be very happy to see them get some love.

[CorvusMask]

keftiu wrote:

I’d love to see both the Riftwardens get some love as a likely framing device for planar and high level campaigns, and think they would pair nicely with a more formalized Sakorian Reclaimer group.

A Riftwarden AP would make a good 11-20, come to think of it.

Ya, didn't like Riftwardens getting cut from Wrath CRPG adaption x'D

[Rysky]

CorvusMask wrote:

keftiu wrote:

I’d love to see both the Riftwardens get some love as a likely framing device for planar and high level campaigns, and think they would pair nicely with a more formalized Sakorian Reclaimer group.

A Riftwarden AP would make a good 11-20, come to think of it.

Ya, didn't like Riftwardens getting cut from Wrath CRPG adaption x'D

Well they didn't get cut

Spoiler:

so much as stabbed.

[CorvusMask]

Rysky wrote:

CorvusMask wrote:

keftiu wrote:

I’d love to see both the Riftwardens get some love as a likely framing device for planar and high level campaigns, and think they would pair nicely with a more formalized Sakorian Reclaimer group.

A Riftwarden AP would make a good 11-20, come to think of it.

Ya, didn't like Riftwardens getting cut from Wrath CRPG adaption x'D

Well they didn't get cut** spoiler omitted **

Blackfire Adepts didn't get even mentioned :'D

[Perpdepog]

I was wondering about that. Both groups feel like they've sort of been shoved off to the side, which is kind of a bummer. Those two, I don't know if organization is a good term for Black Fire Adepts, but those two organizations have an interesting dynamic which extends past the usual scope of Golarion politics, but doesn't go quite as far as the entrenched battles going on between various planes and deities.

[The Raven Black]

I so wanted to play a renegade Blackfire Adept who joined the Riftwardens to learn their techniques and gain the upper hand on his rivals within the Adepts in order to become their leader.

I really liked these 2 yin-yang groups.