I really dislike the way factions are handled in 5th ed. They're there, but almost as an afterthought. They have ranks, but you gain nothing from pursuing those ranks. I decided I wanted to expand on that a bit. Of course, I'm stuck on a few things. I'm not sure if I've made things too unclear, (obviously what I want makes sense in my head, but if I present it to players, will it make sense to them?) Also, I'm stumped on what I should do for a lot of the rank 5 abilities. Any good ideas that fit the theme?
What I wanted was to make each faction unique and interesting, with abilities that matched the flavor of that faction. That flavor, at least in my head, is:
Emerald Enclave - Protection of nature is the most important thing. All of their abilities involve the natural world.
Harpers - The harpers are diplomats and peacemakers. They make great arbiters and value diplomacy over outright combat. Consequently, all of their abilities go to making them better diplomats.
Lord's Alliance - The Alliance is all about nationalism, and bringing glory to the people of their town, nation, etc. So their abilities make them great leaders.
Order of the Gauntlet - The order is all about protecting the little people. When there's defending that needs to be done, a Gauntlet is standing in front. Their abilities revolve around making sure their allies are safe.
Zhentarim - Zhents are focused on merchantile pursuits. All of their abilities (with the exception of the snake, which I'm not fond of, but is so directly tied to the Zhentarim that I felt it HAD to be a feature) involves merchant pursuits and making money.
That being said, I've also limited it based on the Adventurer's league level limits. So, you need a specific amount of renown for each rank, plus you need to be level 5 for the third rank, level 11 for the fourth, and level 17 for the 5th. I'm trying to balance the benefits across each faction, but also make them useful for someone of that level.
So here's the benefits of each faction.
Emerald Enclave
1. Leaf Clasp - Gives pass without trace in natural environment, and advantage on stealth in the wilderness. 2. Knowledge of the Forest - Can identify any naturally occurring animals or plants 3. Immunities - Immune to natural poisons and venoms. 4. Woodwalk - Able to travel instantly between groves 5. ???
Harpers
1. Harper Pin - Gives disadvantage to attacks made against the harper with magical attacks. (once per turn) 2. Harper Knowledge - Gains proficiency bonus to any Intelligence checks, if already proficient, double the bonus. 3. Sanctuary - Sanctuary once per long rest, DC is 10+Harper Rank, + Charisma modifier 4. Tymora's Smile - Luck bonus - applies proficiency bonus to Armor Class 5. Mystra's Boon - Gains advantage for Saves against Magical Attacks
Lord's Alliance
1. Lord's Cloak - Applies Advantage to Charisma saves and checks 2. Man of the People - Able to sway public opinion in the Lord's favor (effectively move them one rank, depending on the lord's intention.) 3. Rally the Troops - Gains up to 10 followers to defend the Stingblade, and the area. Use Bandits stat block 4. Spirits of the Land - Able to call on the land's ancestors in battle. (In my head I see this like Aragorn and the spirits of the oathbreakers) 5. ???
Order of the Gauntlet
1. Damage Resistance - Subtract proficiency bonus from damage taken each round. 2. Taunt - Force opponent to attack you 3. Blade of Justice - Gain advantage to attack anyone who damaged you in the previous turn 4. Aura of Law - Anyone in 15 radius gains disadvantage when attacking Vindicator's allies 5. ???
Zhentarim
1. Snake Pet - flying snake 2. 10% discount - 10% discount on any purchase, and items sell for 10% more. 3. Cover Identity - Gains cover identities equal to the character's charisma modifier 4. 25% discount - 25% discount on any purchase, and items sell for 25% more. 5. ???
Factions are part of Adventure League not part of 5e. Yeah you are free to have factions in your game but the Adventure League factions exist for a specific purpose, namely organized play.
So it's important to remember that the idea of adventure league is that you can play your character anywhere, dropping in and out of games.
The lack of focus is probably to help facilitate league games. Though I only played a couple of previous league games and I don't remember anything about how the factions worked prior to 5th
Factions are part of Adventure League not part of 5e. Yeah you are free to have factions in your game but the Adventure League factions exist for a specific purpose, namely organized play.
There's an entire section in the DMG about factions. It just doesn't give an interesting and meaningful benefit from leveling up your faction membership. Also, I'm running Princes of the Apocalypse, which starts off with some very strong faction influence. I'm aware that factions play a part of AL, but since I'm not running AL, I want to give my players something that feels just as important.
Factions are part of Adventure League not part of 5e. Yeah you are free to have factions in your game but the Adventure League factions exist for a specific purpose, namely organized play.
There's an entire section in the DMG about factions. It just doesn't give an interesting and meaningful benefit from leveling up your faction membership. Also, I'm running Princes of the Apocalypse, which starts off with some very strong faction influence. I'm aware that factions play a part of AL, but since I'm not running AL, I want to give my players something that feels just as important.
Its like a page or two at best, not really an entire section. I should have been more clear though. The factions listed are from Adventure League and are not part of the default D&D campaign. The fact they are part of Adventure League is I believe the reason they aren't really fleshed out to provide bonuses or a lot of benefits, as the Characters within Adventure League have limited contact with their factions, and probably at best maybe one game in four?
A couple of thoughts though.
Aura of Law - Anyone in 15 radius gains disadvantage when attacking Vindicator's allies
If enough of your party belongs to the Order of the Gauntlet, you are going to kill yourself with this. The best way to look at disadvantage is that if you have it, you aren't going to hit. For the most part it comes out to a -5 to hit, so basically you are adding +5 to the entire party's AC, assuming enough members belong to the Order and are within 15 feet of those members. Disadvantage is one of the worse concepts ever created. Speeds up gameplay, but the increased DC/ACs basically means you aren't going to do much with disadvantage. Mathematically the party should huddle together and take the fireball because disadvantage would be that good for them.
Take a full plate Paladin at 20 AC. At lower levels that's basically a +5 to hit for the monsters so the dice roll has to be 15 or higher to hit the Paladin. This means you will normally hit 1/4 times. Disadvantage makes that something crazy So that you have only a 9 out of 400 chance against an AC of 20 with a +5 bonus. With no bonus it would be 1 out of 400 (the chances of getting two 20's in a row.) The +5 calculations are the same for a AC of 15 but no bonus to attack.
So stay away from giving your monsters disadvantage all the time. For the fun of it, I rolled 500 sets of numbers (by rolled I mean used an online program). To hit a target number of 15 with disadvantage (or 20 with a +5 attack bonus) I hit 46 out of those 500 times. Roughly 23 times out of 250. Sure you get a little slack because most PCs have an AC of around 15 and monsters have a bonus to hit. Really not a good idea.
I don't like the Zhentarim bonus to selling/buying. It makes sense if they go to someone associated with the Zhentarim, but literally every single place they go to gives them a discount?
Also note that applying proficiency bonus to AC means that player will probably end up with an AC way over 30, which could make it nearly impossible to hit them. (even better if they stand to their friend granting disadvantage.
In a lot of ways I feel like being part of a faction should have roleplaying benefits, not really numerical ones. Why does belonging to a faction somehow make your AC better or make you harder to hit?
As filecat said - great for roleplaying, or having extra friends, eyes, and ears to get information (and adventure hooks). But I don't think the factions need any additional boons.
If you're dead set on factions providing some sort of mechanical bonus, I'd implement benefits similar to how Morrowind did. Let the factions provide some material support, like consumables that can be collected periodically, followers, or something like (slightly) discounted spell casting services when using an aligned services. I'd still caution against offering too many/too powerful of benefits as they can make the factions too influential.
I am using factions in my PotA game. But I am not providing powers to the players. Instead, I have the players gaining assistance from the Factions. The better their standing the better the assistance. Low levels it it's a few potions. If they get high enough standing they may get help with
Securing the haunted keeps and lower level dungeons.
I've looked through one of the DM books for AL and remember seeing more details on this type of assistance. I forget which it was though.
What I try to do with the Factions is some kind of mix with the Backgrounds in Vampire The Masquerade.
You can obtain points for Perks with each rank you gain, for example, you may gain as many points as rank level. So when reaching rank 5, you have a total of 15 points.
You can use your points as soon as you achieve the rank but there should be a "story" way to make that happen. The DM can give you the perks selected when is plausibly in the game.
The idea behind this is to represent some kind of advancement within an organization by adding some flavor and most important, giving the players the chance to choose how they want to advance. These are all "perks" that have no hard rules. No "advantage on this" or +5 to that. It's up to the DM how to reflect them in the game, but players can remind the DM that "I am known in this town, can I ask for a free beer?" =P
For example, you can have the following Perks. These are some examples of what each level can do in one of the factions, but the idea is that an old known NPC or some background character can become an Ally, or came up with a title for each Rank on each faction.
Allies (1-5): You have an ally inside the faction, which acts as an old friend would do. She will do favors to the character, but has her own problems and may ask for help as well. For each point added to Allies, you can choose one minor ally, or increase the power/influence of one them. For example: 1 point - A brother in arms in the Faction 2 points - Two brothers in arms, or the Blacksmith 3 points - An important diplomat of the Order 4 points - The Guild Master of the Traders 5 points - The leader of the Zentharim
Contacts (1-5): You have one or more contacts inside an organization that are willing to share information with you, for a small cost. Again, for each point added to the Contacts perk, you can choose a new small contact, or increment the knowledge and reach of them. For example: 1 point - One squire who overhears what his master says 2 points - One traveler merchant of the Zhentarim 3 points - One General of the Order of the Gaunlet 4 points - A spy of the Harpers 5 points - A driad of the Emerald Enclave who gathers news from little beasts
Fame (1-5): As your actions become more and more important to the plane, you start to gather some fame. First, only with people who are aware of your deeds, but soon you are in the songs of bards and in tales for the kids. A character can do great things and not grow fame from it, simply because she is not appealing to the masses or some other people have taken the glory for themselves. By this I mean not everybody is famous just for leveling up, you need some points in this perk to become truly recognized. For example: 1 point - Local leaders of your faction know about you 2 points - People from a town directly affected by your actions know about you by name 3 points - People from your area of influence know about you, and they can recognize you with some charisma checks. 4 points - A whole nation or kingdom knows about you and your deeds. Songs are written telling your adventures. Most people can recognize you on the spot. 5 points - As above, but your fame has reached the high spheres, like Kings and powerful mages, who will seek your aid when needed.
Rank (1-5): You scale the ladder in your faction and amass some level of influence and power in it. When troubles arise, your faction may ask for your advice and orders. You need to decide where troops will be deployed, or when, or what goods should be traded. But the more points you have in this perk, more time is expected for you to be available for your faction. Achieving a 5 dot Rank could mean retiring the character to become an NPC as the regional leader of the Faction. Failing to comply with the responsibilities of the obtained rank, can lead to losing the points invested when you are displaced from your seat. For example: 1 point - Knight of the Order of the Gauntlet. You are given a squire and command over a little area near your base 2 points - Keeper of the Forest. You are given a small cottage on a forest. You are master of this area and the Emerald Enclave trust you to watch over it. 3 points - Local Leader. You are the commander of your faction in a local area, such as a reign or province. You receive orders from the Regional Leader but all local concerns are of your concern and must be attended. 4 points - Tailorers Guild Leader. You are the leader of a big guild of the Zentharim. You control trade routes and prices. Other important merchants and local authorities seek your favors. 5 points - Regional Leader. You have reached the top of the ladder. You decide when and how your faction will act on every aspect. You are required to be present on the main base of operations almost always, as there are so many others trying to occupy your place that you can not forgo politics.
I hope this could lead to some ideas! Sorry for the Long Post!
The factions really don't need set-in-stone mechanical boons. Most published adventures give explicit instructions throughout for what to give to players who are part of a faction. The DMG includes a whole section on how Renown works; this includes suggestions on how rank affects interactions with members of that organization. Players should be working for factions because it fits their character, not because they want particular combat bonuses.
I basically use factions to create "fronts" like you see in Dungeon World, to help create some structure for the overall world and what's going on in it. And then I also incorporate them into my NPCs as relevant. It's mostly fluff, but so far none of my players have expressed interest in joining a faction. If they did, factions would become a much bigger part of my campaign.
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DM: The Cult of the Crystal Spider (Currently playing Storm King's Thunder) Player: The Knuckles of Arth - Lemire (Tiefling Rogue 5/Fighter 1)
actually if you check the adventurer's league info factions do in fact have boons tied to them. These benefits may not be as powerful as your suggestions are, but fanctions aren't really meant to be used to add more than a network of allies, side-quests, and role-playing opportunities.
Having just finished the Hoard of the Dragon Queen and going into The Rise of Tiamat, I have learned that the Factions seem to be a big deal with some PC's and the GM. Mostly the Harpers but the GM has put my PC in a situation with the Emerald Enclave rep that seems to have conflict arising. I am a Chaotic Good 1/2 Elf Cleric and I don't see myself, in any way, in tune with the EE's themes. While a nature domain cleric I don't see myself completely neutral to the sufferings of beings and creatures in order to preserve nature.
What is it with the factions and do I have to "chose" one over the other?
What is it with the factions and do I have to "chose" one over the other?
That's really up to you and your DM. The factions should be roleplay opportunities, and you shouldn't be required to choose one over another, or any at all. Talk to your DM, find out what he is looking for, and let him know how you feel. Try to reach an agreement between the two ideas.
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I really dislike the way factions are handled in 5th ed. They're there, but almost as an afterthought. They have ranks, but you gain nothing from pursuing those ranks. I decided I wanted to expand on that a bit. Of course, I'm stuck on a few things. I'm not sure if I've made things too unclear, (obviously what I want makes sense in my head, but if I present it to players, will it make sense to them?) Also, I'm stumped on what I should do for a lot of the rank 5 abilities. Any good ideas that fit the theme?
What I wanted was to make each faction unique and interesting, with abilities that matched the flavor of that faction. That flavor, at least in my head, is:
That being said, I've also limited it based on the Adventurer's league level limits. So, you need a specific amount of renown for each rank, plus you need to be level 5 for the third rank, level 11 for the fourth, and level 17 for the 5th. I'm trying to balance the benefits across each faction, but also make them useful for someone of that level.
So here's the benefits of each faction.
Emerald Enclave
1. Leaf Clasp - Gives pass without trace in natural environment, and advantage on stealth in the wilderness.
2. Knowledge of the Forest - Can identify any naturally occurring animals or plants
3. Immunities - Immune to natural poisons and venoms.
4. Woodwalk - Able to travel instantly between groves
5. ???
Harpers
1. Harper Pin - Gives disadvantage to attacks made against the harper with magical attacks. (once per turn)
2. Harper Knowledge - Gains proficiency bonus to any Intelligence checks, if already proficient, double the bonus.
3. Sanctuary - Sanctuary once per long rest, DC is 10+Harper Rank, + Charisma modifier
4. Tymora's Smile - Luck bonus - applies proficiency bonus to Armor Class
5. Mystra's Boon - Gains advantage for Saves against Magical Attacks
Lord's Alliance
1. Lord's Cloak - Applies Advantage to Charisma saves and checks
2. Man of the People - Able to sway public opinion in the Lord's favor (effectively move them one rank, depending on the lord's intention.)
3. Rally the Troops - Gains up to 10 followers to defend the Stingblade, and the area. Use Bandits stat block
4. Spirits of the Land - Able to call on the land's ancestors in battle. (In my head I see this like Aragorn and the spirits of the oathbreakers)
5. ???
Order of the Gauntlet
1. Damage Resistance - Subtract proficiency bonus from damage taken each round.
2. Taunt - Force opponent to attack you
3. Blade of Justice - Gain advantage to attack anyone who damaged you in the previous turn
4. Aura of Law - Anyone in 15 radius gains disadvantage when attacking Vindicator's allies
5. ???
Zhentarim
1. Snake Pet - flying snake
2. 10% discount - 10% discount on any purchase, and items sell for 10% more.
3. Cover Identity - Gains cover identities equal to the character's charisma modifier
4. 25% discount - 25% discount on any purchase, and items sell for 25% more.
5. ???
Factions are part of Adventure League not part of 5e. Yeah you are free to have factions in your game but the Adventure League factions exist for a specific purpose, namely organized play.
So it's important to remember that the idea of adventure league is that you can play your character anywhere, dropping in and out of games.
The lack of focus is probably to help facilitate league games. Though I only played a couple of previous league games and I don't remember anything about how the factions worked prior to 5th
Factions are part of the 5th edition Basic Rules:
https://www.dndbeyond.com/compendium/rules/basic-rules/appendices#TheFiveFactions
Also, in almost every published adventure, the five factions play a role.
I can see what Oisin wants to propose here, but the factions are meant more to add more roleplaying than some advantages in the mechanics.
As filecat said - great for roleplaying, or having extra friends, eyes, and ears to get information (and adventure hooks). But I don't think the factions need any additional boons.
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The factions are described in the Player Basic rules and in the DMG.
I seem to remember so, if I am not mistaken. I cannot check right now but I will.
EDIT: Page 21-22 of the DMG.
Moreover, in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide, there is a background entirely based on the Five Factions. Of that, I am sure.
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If you're dead set on factions providing some sort of mechanical bonus, I'd implement benefits similar to how Morrowind did. Let the factions provide some material support, like consumables that can be collected periodically, followers, or something like (slightly) discounted spell casting services when using an aligned services. I'd still caution against offering too many/too powerful of benefits as they can make the factions too influential.
I am using factions in my PotA game. But I am not providing powers to the players. Instead, I have the players gaining assistance from the Factions. The better their standing the better the assistance. Low levels it it's a few potions. If they get high enough standing they may get help with
Securing the haunted keeps and lower level dungeons.
I've looked through one of the DM books for AL and remember seeing more details on this type of assistance. I forget which it was though.
Edit: Can't find the specific information I mentioned. but there is also this from WotC: http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/events/faction-talk-part-1
What I try to do with the Factions is some kind of mix with the Backgrounds in Vampire The Masquerade.
You can obtain points for Perks with each rank you gain, for example, you may gain as many points as rank level. So when reaching rank 5, you have a total of 15 points.
You can use your points as soon as you achieve the rank but there should be a "story" way to make that happen. The DM can give you the perks selected when is plausibly in the game.
The idea behind this is to represent some kind of advancement within an organization by adding some flavor and most important, giving the players the chance to choose how they want to advance. These are all "perks" that have no hard rules. No "advantage on this" or +5 to that. It's up to the DM how to reflect them in the game, but players can remind the DM that "I am known in this town, can I ask for a free beer?" =P
For example, you can have the following Perks. These are some examples of what each level can do in one of the factions, but the idea is that an old known NPC or some background character can become an Ally, or came up with a title for each Rank on each faction.
Allies (1-5):
You have an ally inside the faction, which acts as an old friend would do. She will do favors to the character, but has her own problems and may ask for help as well.
For each point added to Allies, you can choose one minor ally, or increase the power/influence of one them.
For example:
1 point - A brother in arms in the Faction
2 points - Two brothers in arms, or the Blacksmith
3 points - An important diplomat of the Order
4 points - The Guild Master of the Traders
5 points - The leader of the Zentharim
Contacts (1-5):
You have one or more contacts inside an organization that are willing to share information with you, for a small cost.
Again, for each point added to the Contacts perk, you can choose a new small contact, or increment the knowledge and reach of them.
For example:
1 point - One squire who overhears what his master says
2 points - One traveler merchant of the Zhentarim
3 points - One General of the Order of the Gaunlet
4 points - A spy of the Harpers
5 points - A driad of the Emerald Enclave who gathers news from little beasts
Fame (1-5):
As your actions become more and more important to the plane, you start to gather some fame. First, only with people who are aware of your deeds, but soon you are in the songs of bards and in tales for the kids. A character can do great things and not grow fame from it, simply because she is not appealing to the masses or some other people have taken the glory for themselves. By this I mean not everybody is famous just for leveling up, you need some points in this perk to become truly recognized.
For example:
1 point - Local leaders of your faction know about you
2 points - People from a town directly affected by your actions know about you by name
3 points - People from your area of influence know about you, and they can recognize you with some charisma checks.
4 points - A whole nation or kingdom knows about you and your deeds. Songs are written telling your adventures. Most people can recognize you on the spot.
5 points - As above, but your fame has reached the high spheres, like Kings and powerful mages, who will seek your aid when needed.
Rank (1-5):
You scale the ladder in your faction and amass some level of influence and power in it. When troubles arise, your faction may ask for your advice and orders. You need to decide where troops will be deployed, or when, or what goods should be traded. But the more points you have in this perk, more time is expected for you to be available for your faction. Achieving a 5 dot Rank could mean retiring the character to become an NPC as the regional leader of the Faction.
Failing to comply with the responsibilities of the obtained rank, can lead to losing the points invested when you are displaced from your seat.
For example:
1 point - Knight of the Order of the Gauntlet. You are given a squire and command over a little area near your base
2 points - Keeper of the Forest. You are given a small cottage on a forest. You are master of this area and the Emerald Enclave trust you to watch over it.
3 points - Local Leader. You are the commander of your faction in a local area, such as a reign or province. You receive orders from the Regional Leader but all local concerns are of your concern and must be attended.
4 points - Tailorers Guild Leader. You are the leader of a big guild of the Zentharim. You control trade routes and prices. Other important merchants and local authorities seek your favors.
5 points - Regional Leader. You have reached the top of the ladder. You decide when and how your faction will act on every aspect. You are required to be present on the main base of operations almost always, as there are so many others trying to occupy your place that you can not forgo politics.
I hope this could lead to some ideas! Sorry for the Long Post!
The factions really don't need set-in-stone mechanical boons. Most published adventures give explicit instructions throughout for what to give to players who are part of a faction. The DMG includes a whole section on how Renown works; this includes suggestions on how rank affects interactions with members of that organization. Players should be working for factions because it fits their character, not because they want particular combat bonuses.
Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.
I basically use factions to create "fronts" like you see in Dungeon World, to help create some structure for the overall world and what's going on in it. And then I also incorporate them into my NPCs as relevant. It's mostly fluff, but so far none of my players have expressed interest in joining a faction. If they did, factions would become a much bigger part of my campaign.
DM: The Cult of the Crystal Spider (Currently playing Storm King's Thunder)
Player: The Knuckles of Arth - Lemire (Tiefling Rogue 5/Fighter 1)
actually if you check the adventurer's league info factions do in fact have boons tied to them. These benefits may not be as powerful as your suggestions are, but fanctions aren't really meant to be used to add more than a network of allies, side-quests, and role-playing opportunities.
Having just finished the Hoard of the Dragon Queen and going into The Rise of Tiamat, I have learned that the Factions seem to be a big deal with some PC's and the GM. Mostly the Harpers but the GM has put my PC in a situation with the Emerald Enclave rep that seems to have conflict arising. I am a Chaotic Good 1/2 Elf Cleric and I don't see myself, in any way, in tune with the EE's themes. While a nature domain cleric I don't see myself completely neutral to the sufferings of beings and creatures in order to preserve nature.
What is it with the factions and do I have to "chose" one over the other?
That's really up to you and your DM. The factions should be roleplay opportunities, and you shouldn't be required to choose one over another, or any at all. Talk to your DM, find out what he is looking for, and let him know how you feel. Try to reach an agreement between the two ideas.