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In case you missed it, during Paizo Live #7 this past weekend, new Most Esteemed Star Daddy Starfinder Society developer Jessica dropped a spoiler that next year (i.e. Season 5) we'll be getting two new minor factions! That's exciting!!
Based on exactly nothing other than the fact that they're new, and their leaders are 'already known' to us - anyone have any wild, baseless, speculation? I'll start!
1. Galactic Gourmands
Everyone knows that one-in-three Starfinders has a side hustle as a chef, cook, exotic meat procurer, or some other job in the food industry. It's about high-time that this growing, influential, group of Starfinders get representation! Led by VC Arvin, whose foodie tendencies have always manifested as sharing fancy intoxicants and niche snacks with his teams, these hungry hunters are all about scouting, sourcing, and cooking with, high-quality (and often questionably legal!) ingredients, methods, and cookware. Look forwards to boons like "Mithral Waffle Maker Supplier" to get discounts buying special materials!
2. All-Excellent Trustworthy Troupe of Incorruptibility
Does a mission call for Starfinders of impeccable judgment, with moral character above reproach? Trust these trustworthy adventurers, who are practically guaranteed to be 100% honest and dependable, and also you should tell them your secrets! These hearty stalwarts, who you can be sure are probably all space-paladins basically incapable of lying, are always happy to help! Their exact values or mission statement aren't written down anywhere, but they say they've done so much great work, so it's gotta be true, right?
The Faction leader? Hey, that's not important! What is a 'leader,' anyways, but a symbol! And you don't ask a symbol what their name is, right? Exactly! Anyways, whoever this worthy faction Grandmaster is, they sure seem to need a lot of Torches - to make sure there's no Shadows, of course! That's how bright and great this minor faction and their leader is!
Unrelated, but just a head's up - if you hear any wild stories about increased bandwidth being funneled to the Adamantine Bastille prison inside the Lorespire Complex, or strange shipments of magical masks - the Troupe is already investigating those. You can trust their unbiased findings! No need to worry about any of that, they'll keep you posted!
Members of the All-Excellent Trustworthy Troupe of Incorruptibility can take boons like the "PvP Flag" meta-boon, which lets them target unwilling allies without Player consent once per Reputation tier, and [REDACTED]
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3 Pen and Paper These starfinders have taken the lessons of the Datascourge to heart and have avowed not to be so reliant on technology. They're known for getting more out of simpler materials, using their brains instead of technolgical crutches, and keeping very solutions to complex problems in mind. Headed by hipster hampster Royo
4 Liluptians Being more than a little concerned about the societes willingness to cozy up to big business or bigger military industrial complex liliputians make sure there's a viable option for the society to help the little guy instead while on a mission Headed by REDACTED STATIC NOISE
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4 Liluptians
Ok mine were just shitposting, but this one's actually good! And, like...a faction I'd want to join!
(Also lololol forever at "using analog writing" = Hipster. "The new vintage reclaimed papyrus from Golarion just dropped!" "Oh, this calligraphic font? I learned it while on a pilgrimage to N'Chak, you've probably never heard of it." :D)|
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Minor Faction ideas:
Planar Preservationists:
This organization sprang into being not during the Crisis, but rather much earlier, when alarmed Starfinder agents of note started running calculations of just how much extra-planar materiel was being ripped into the Drift 1.0. This organization is loosely based on anecdotal and archival recollections of similar faction from the elemental planes called 'The Concordance of Elements", and they zealously watch for signs that the Drift is consuming more of other planes while trying to find ways to prevent that from happening without losing the utility of the Drift.
Uplifted Shield:
Once upon a time there were some primitive beings in reality that were moving along at their own pace of development until outside forces manipulated them into altering their societies, psychologies, and physiognomies.
With the power of the Starfinder Society, this new faction watches for abuses of species that have been raised from more humble roots, as well as seeks to uncover the history of such species beyond whatever their uplifting partner may have provided.
Temporal Echoes
Recent explorations in the direction of temporal anomalies have led to the discovery of this faction,that has been carefully watching the flow of time for alterations to it and for evidence of same alterations.
Whether it be sideways in time, forwards or back, they seek to understand the inherent nature of Time itself, with a goal of perhaps one day discovering a way to repair the Gap without losing the impact that it has made on the timeline.
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Just putting it out there, but I just find the factions a bit meh.
Call my a grognard, but I liked it in the wayback when Factions felt more tangible and there was something in the scenario that the factions had an interest in - you always felt that you were part of something bigger and had your own mission within a mission.
Now it just feels like ticking a box to unpack a bag of boons.
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Ooh, I also missed this thread at the time! And yeah, I agree that my characters' faction(s) are a big part of my consideration in character creation.
I had some similar ideas to some of these that I shared in a chat with friends. My original ideas included:
-A whistleblower faction led by Datch.
-An analog media faction led by Royo.
-An augmentation-focused faction led by Dr. Monsylkis and/or Ykris.
Other ideas I've had since then include...
-A faction devoted to ensuring the health and safety of adventurers, led by Hurondo.
-A faction devoted to resolving internal affairs and cross-faction conflicts led by Eshki (there's an unpainted mini based on his design available from WizKids, and I love him, so I can dream!)
And then, just because I love them, scenarios led by any of the NPCs from Siege of Civility or Rasheen's Reception. And for self-indulgence reasons, I *do* want a faction led by Whisperer of Solar Winds from Dreaming of the Future.
