Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 pukunui Aug 07, 2015 19:32:43	Hi folks,   For my new campaign, I'd like to try playing around with factions. I'm going to take the five AL factions and reskin them for my homebrew world, but I also want my PCs to be members of an adventurers' guild.   Now here's the thing: While I think it makes sense that the PCs would be able to earn renown in the guild and gain more perks from that, I'm not sure it makes sense that there would be ranks. Do you think it would make sense to treat the guild as a faction, using the same rules as the other factions, or would it make more sense to have it be a less formal organization that just provides minor benefits (like discounts on adventuring equipment and leads on new adventuring jobs and such) so that the players don't need to worry about tracking renown and ranks and faction benefits for two different groups at once?   If I were not to use the faction rules in the DMG to structure the guild, how else might I go about showing that, the more the players succeed on their adventures, the more famous and reputable they become in the guild books, which thus opens them up to greater perks (eg. borrowing powerful magic items, gaining access to powerful people, etc)?   Anyone got any ideas?     Thanks in advance!   Cheers, Jonathan
#2 THEMNGMNT Aug 07, 2015 22:29:22	I think it makes PERFECT sense to use the faction system for a guild of adventurers. I would start with discounts on equipment and/or access to unusual equipment and/or a safe place to keep your gold. Then progress to magic item identification and other lore-related needs. Then onto lifting curses and providing healing magic, including resurrection. Basically, use the adventurer faction to handwave all the boring stuff that gets in the way of the action.
#3 Nevvur Aug 07, 2015 23:02:22	Speaking from personal experience... Get player input on what they want out of it, if they even want it, and do it before you invest much time into designing it.   I once started a campaign and put the PCs in charge of a large military style mercenary guild. Before the first session, I only told them the story was going to involve them being part of a mercenary guild, and to try to work their backgrounds around that. Then I poured hours into fleshing out key NPCs, a robust system of quest acquisition and soldier assignment, resources they both began with and could acquire with wealth/fame, etc... and dumped the whole thing in their laps.   Only one of the 4 players showed even a remote interest in it.    Doesn't sound like you're working on anything so grandiose, but it was a painful lesson to learn for me.
#4 pukunui Aug 08, 2015 2:30:50	THEMNGMNT wrote:
#5 BRJN Aug 08, 2015 17:19:51	If I was one of your players, I would want to treat the Adventurers Guild much like I am currently treating the Council of Waterdeep in Tiamat.  These are the guys who give you a list of jobs, a place to store your stuff, and a way to locate replacements for mundane gear that you destroy along the way. In other words, a mechanic to relieve myself of some bookkeeping. However, if you drop an interesting idea in my lap, I would treat the Guild with more respect.   Have you thought about a regional law "All adventurers must register themselves with the Guild"?  This would allow some intrigue / politics scenarios, and provide an easy source of plot hooks when the players look around and ask, "What do we want to do tonight?"   Will one of your re-skinned factions be a Villian Group?  It could be possible to develop a group whose true size and scope only becomes clear over time, much like the early James Bond movies revealed S.P.E.C.T.E.R. clue by clue.  You would only have to develop it at the same pace as the PCs rise in their faction, because they aren't worth the Big Boys' attention (yet).
#6 pukunui Aug 09, 2015 2:13:33	BRJN wrote:
#7 Kahless Aug 10, 2015 4:24:37	You could take a look at what Paizo does with Pathfinder Society.   The Pathfinder Society is a general umbrella organization, but the members within it all have their own agendas and form factions. There is a "generic" faction for those that don't want one of the others that kind of represents the "loyalty to the Society" characters as opposed to other competing loyalties. Some of the original factions were political/geographical entities, one was a "shadow" entity, but they've since moved to some more overarching "theme" factions.   For D&D, your Renown score could represent your fame in the guild, but it would be your Faction that is responsible for handling all your needs (gear, spellcasting, etc).. There aren't titles in PF like there are in AL play, though.
#8 bawylie Aug 10, 2015 7:15:41	I did a hunt-club/society.   People would post requests to the club offering bounty on dangerous individuals, exotic monsters, etc.    Involvement was optional but you had to advance within the club to go after the better stuff.    I combined this with rare ingredients & recipes for magic items and spells. So there was a double-incentive to go hunting. I was also able to include stuff that wouldn't normally have been in the campaign
#9 pukunui Aug 10, 2015 14:49:34	Kahless wrote:
#10 Kahless Aug 11, 2015 5:14:02	Honestly? Wizards pretty much cribbed Pathfinder Society play for the Expeditions play when 5E came out. PFS has a few more restrictions and more paperwork, but yeah, they pretty much just stole the ideas LOL (Factions, Expeditions, etc)
#11 sleypy Aug 11, 2015 8:48:34	If you don't think they make sense from an "In World" perspective, consider keeping the ranks off screen. What I mean is that you can use the system in order to keep track of your players standings, but don't reveal it to the players directly. All the players really need to know is that their relationship appears to have changed by how much/little support the factions offer. This way you don't have to throw out something that exists to make things easier because one aspect doesn't quite fit.   If you ever played FallOut 3, one of the small perks was simply having Three Dog talking about your accomplishments on the radio station. I did something similar in my game. I had chapbooks and flat sheets, chapter books and newspapers in the Realms. (One PC discovered he'd become so popular in one region that a particular author started writing Chapbook of Erotic Fantasy featuring his likeness on the cover.)