[MECHANICS] Becoming Questing Beasts

Part two of three in a series about faction-focused campaigns

Missed Part 1? Click Below:

[MECHANICS] Making Factions Matter

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Earlier last week we talked about factions and how you really only need three to get players invested in the world. I won’t regurgitate the talking points I made there, go check it out above if you want to give that a look.

Today, however, we’re going to be talking about the meat of these factions; the real reason why they exist in the first place and what effects they have on the world at large. And, of course, we’ll talk about getting the players in on the shenanigans.

The Framework (cont.)

Here are the steps of the first phase of faction creation we used in the previous article:

1. Create three factions.

2. Have the player characters choose the enemy faction.

3. Have the player characters choose their faction (as a group).

4. Whichever faction remains is allied with the player character’s faction.

Once those are accomplished, we move into a second phase where we start to flesh out both what these factions stand for and how the players can engage.

5. Create a mission statement for each faction. A mission statement says, in 1-2 sentences, what the faction’s essential mission and values are.

6. Generate three quests for the primary faction the players chose to be a part of. These quests should directly relate to the mission statement of the faction OR oppose another faction’s mission statement (those are not always mutual!).

7. Reward completion of quests with reputation or further opportunities. Depending on your game, other rewards like currency or items are useful as rewards—but make sure you tie it to the faction specifically (I’ll give a few more tips on this below).

8. Once two quests are completed, the third quest disappear and all three quests are refreshed. Every so often, maybe every refresh, toss in a quest from the allied faction. These quests should feel significantly different from the primary faction’s, which I’ll give some tips for down below.

Again, we’re utilizing the Rule of Three to keep things simple. You have three factions, the primary of which has 2-3 quests at all times. As players complete quests, more are added to refresh the list—presumably with greater rewards or opportunities.

You may be wondering: why do we create mission statements for all three factions if we’re only generating quests for one of them most of the time? Because the mission statement doesn’t just describe what the faction wants, but also how it goes about acquiring it.

For the enemy faction, who won’t have any quests generated, this allows us to know what situations the players might find themselves opposed by this faction, rather than just the normal monsters or obstacles.

An example below describes this in practice, but before that, could I ask you to consider subscribing to the newsletter if you haven’t already? Subscribing is free and helps me get my words to more eyes on the platform (compared to simply following, which seems to have no effect). I genuinely appreciate it.

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Example: Kingdoms and Rebels, Part 2

Last article, we explored a war-torn kingdom through three factions: rebels, mercenaries, and nobles. We'll continue using this example to develop these factions further.

The factions' mission statements are:

• Rebels: Fighting tyranny for a brighter future and the common folk. Oppression and prejudice have no place in that future.

• Mercenaries: Profit and power are the goals; it doesn’t matter who rules as long as the money flows.

• Rulers: By divine right, we rule. Opposing us is opposing the gods, and we will stop at nothing to prevent such blasphemy.

Assuming the players align with the Rulers, here are some initial quests that align with or oppose faction missions:

1. Quest: Destroy or capture the supply line being smuggled to a minor rebel base (opposes the Rebels’ mission).
   Reward: Reputation with the Rulers, Hostility with the Rebels, Coin or Items from Supply Line (optional)

2. Quest: Protect Minor Priestess Ephara during her proclamation of “The Right of the Rulers: Divine Ordinance” in Argentum Square (supports the Rulers’ mission).
   Reward: Reputation with the Rulers, Ally: Minor Priestess Ephara, Minor Blessings of the Crown.

3. Quest: Deliver the holy relic “Stone Eye of Seridos” to the Cloister of the Crown (supports the Rulers’ mission).
   Reward: Reputation with the Rulers, Major Relic Blessing (entire party).

When the players complete two of these quests (let’s say 1 and 3), the “Protect Minor Priestess Ephara” quest falls off. We then create three new quests for the players to choose from.

As a pro tip, when clearing the quest that wasn’t chosen, roll a die and choose high or low; high means the quest succeeds without the players, whereas low means a consequence occurs due to the players not being there (you can choose how mild or severe this consequence is).

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Next Time: Reputation (And Using It)

We’ve got an idea of what these factions want and how they go about getting it, but how do players leverage their reputation? How do they transition from lowly cogs to influential decision-makers?

In the final article of this series, we'll explore how players can use reputation to gain political clout, unlock secretive faction goals, and more. Look for that next week.

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