Do you use factions in non pathfinder society play?

Advice

I'm developing a homebrew setting, and I find myself with a lot of secret societies, rebel armies, etc. I was wondering if I should just keep those at the level of roleplay, or if I should incorporate more of the faction mechanics into them, perhaps develop some faction archetypes, stuff like that. I have never really bother with Pathfinder society. Do you use homebrewed faction with those mechanics? Is there are guide for developing homebrewed factions? Any advice would be appreciated.

Posted Sep 10, 2023, 9:15 PM UTC

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chris270199:Fighter_Icon: Fighter•

I think it depends on the campaign

If factions are going to play a heavy role in the game then that could be interesting

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Soar_Y7•

What I like to do is just choose archetypes or backgrounds with factions and change the flavor to fit the faction and minor mechanical changes like ability boosts and trained proficiency to fit more the theme. However, I only do that if a player is interested in partaking in exploring or becoming a member. Usually I don't bother with stuff the players will not care in the campaign

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Solrex•

Enjoy your second puberty, that is your girlhood.

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Billy177013•

Wtf are you on about?

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Solrex•

Wrong subreddit what the heck am I on about? How did this get here?

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Billy177013•

Small indie company ig

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Solrex•

Yep

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Dagawing:Glyph: Game Master•

Only if they are relevant to the campaign, or if I randomly come up with a dope idea. Sorry!

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Xtprime:ORC: ORC•

I ran a non Pathfinder Society game where the Pathfinder Society factions were important as the game setup was the group (of newer players) were Pathfinder Agents. It allowed them to have a way to freely rebuild characters or just bring in new characters if they didn't like how it played.

Anyway, the Pathfinder Factions gave them meta goals of how they performed their missions, and when I expanded the Factions to include some of the nation factions (Andoran Knights, Lumber Consortium, a Dwarvish Clan from Highhelm and others) it made their world seem lived in and full of characters and they did have to be aware of what they did and how it affected others.

That said it was a bit of headache to organise and maintain it behind the curtain as the GM, though when I simplified faction reputation, and made it public so the players could keep track and even help maintain it, the system added a lot to the game.

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Spoolerdoing•

The Strength of Thousands branch system could work for faction ranks, obviously with the archetype changed. Hellknights and Firebrands are slam dunks for this, but if you're using the PFS factions then just nudge players in favour of their factions goals.

For additional inspiration on how multiple factions could interact, the 5e book Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica (or any other Ravnica material including the old-ass MTG novels) could be a decent read. Obviously there's no applicable rules, but it gives an insight into how certain factions can, under certain circumstances, still work together for good or ill.

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