Pathfinder Chronicles - Faction Guide (oef).pdf - WORLDWAKE

A party of adventurers may include members of several
different factions, all of them working toward a common
overall goal but each individual member having received
special instructions from his faction regarding information
or actions of particular importance to him and his faction.
Working factions into your home campaign requires
some extra effort on your (the GM’s) part, either tailoring
published adventures or adding details to adventures of
your own design to incorporate the idea of characters as
members of secret (or not-so-secret) societies, fellowships,
and orders with goals and visions beyond the next payday.
You may have some decisions to make concerning which
factions you want to use; you want players to find factions
that interest and excite them, but some factions may not fit
for the campaign because of alignment, location, mission,
or focus. The reward for this extra effort is a richer
campaign, one where PCs really feel themselves a part of
the living, breathing campaign world of Golarion.
fac t i o n Ba s i c s
PCs improve their standing within their faction by
succeeding in missions relating to or coming from
a faction. In a given adventure, or even in between
adventures, you should think about the factions the
characters in the party have chosen to represent. Their
factions might ask them to assassinate a crime lord,
protect an innocent merchant caught in a crossfire, save
a kidnapped child, hand off an important letter, foil an
assassination, recover a specific stolen relic, or locate a
letter of marque. Whatever the mission, a positive outcome
earns the character a Prestige Award (PA).
As a character’s prestige increases, her faction rewards her
excellent service with ever-increasing boons. In this section,
you’ll find an expanded system of rules that describes the
kinds of rewards and privileges a character can access as her
Total Prestige Award (TPA) increases and how she can use
her Prestige Award for a variety of benefits that ref lect her
faction’s willingness to assist her in times of need.
Faction Secrecy
Governments and religious, political, mercantile, or
cultural organizations may vary a great deal when it comes
to dealing with factions and their activities. Some factions,
like the Mendev Crusaders and the Hellknights of Cheliax,
are blatantly public in their actions and their efforts to
recruit others to their cause. Others are subtler in their
plots and operate in the shadows; even where their presence
is known, local leaders often turn a blind eye to their
existence and activities as long as they don’t make trouble.
The more secretive factions often look down on those who
act openly, but every faction must weigh the value of a public
presence and reputation versus the ability to operate without
interference. Factions have alliances and rivalries to be sure,
3
Introduction
but they usually avoid open conf lict with their rivals in the
interest of keeping the favor of local governments that allow
them to operate freely in their territory.
Choosing a Faction
Every faction has a unique history, culture, style, and
specialty. Each has its own modus operandi in the ongoing
struggle for power and inf luence on Golarion, and each
offers its members different boons. Choosing a faction can
be as important as choosing a character class or race—it
defines a character in the campaign and ties him to his
faction’s destiny. Before you allow your players to choose
their factions, peruse each faction carefully and see which
ones fit well with the theme of your campaign. If you don’t
wish to allow evil characters, for instance, you might think
twice about allowing characters to become part of the
Hellknights or the cult of Razmir, and if your campaign
is set in the wilds of Varisia, it might be reasonable to
disallow the Risen Guards of Osirion as they have little
interest or inf luence there. It’s not about restricting your
players; it’s about creating a rational and logical campaign
setting where options fit together and where players won’t
be frustrated by making a choice that won’t have much to
do with the campaign. That said, if a player has a great
character concept that he’s excited about for a faction that
you don’t think would work, give the player a chance to
pitch the idea. Explain the reasons why his faction choice
might be hard to play in the campaign, but if he really
wants to try it, let him give it a go.
Bear in mind that a PC need not be from a particular
country to become a member of a faction, even if that faction
itself is closely associated with that country. Likewise,
characters of any class can join a faction. Thus, even a
wizard born in the Mwangi Expanse can become an Eagle
Knight of Andoran. PCs are not necessarily bound to work
with a single faction. Although it is simplest to stay with one
faction for a character’s career, there is no reason a PC can’t
gain prestige within more than one group (though trying
to work with two rival groups is unlikely to turn out well).
Lastly, characters should not be required to join a faction.
Those uninterested in the idea can ignore it, but those who
find it appealing have an additional option for customizing
their characters and how they fit into the world.
Character Class versus Faction
Following a brief overview of the faction, each entry explains
the goals and the general alignment of the group; PCs who are
part of the faction need not match this alignment precisely,
but it serves as a guide to the faction’s general attitudes and
values. Each description also includes the headquarters of
the faction and one of its primary leaders. To help guide
players, for each faction there is a list of character classes that
are best and least suited to membership and advancement.