Character Faction Tips - Lazy GM Tip

Mike talks about the advantages of setting up character factions in your tabletop RPG.
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[@andrewstraight2961]

Great stuff, Mike. Loved watching your Shadowdark campaign prep videos and the process by which you’ve come to these recommendations!

[@khastilrist]

Good video, thanks.

[@andrewshears2077]

I love your content! I’m running multiple campaigns (all home brew, but, alas, all 5e), and your stuff is my go-to when I need to buckle down and actually DO the prep. Just started using your Notion template (yeah yeah, the cool kids have moved to Obsidian, I know), and I honestly don’t know what the hell I was doing before. It’s game changing. Thank you!

[@buddhaweatherby368]

The idea of a roster of characters has always appealed to me. I love the idea of the whole party working as part of a faction and allowing players to rotate characters in and out as a campaign progresses. I really miss Dark Sun man, that was a fascinating world with a ton of scaffolding for this style of play. Waterdeep is another setting that comes immediately to mind. I have seen it work best with an odd number of factions with 5 factions seeming to be the sweet spot, but 7 could also work to allow for the range of alignments. It could be very interesting to hold a faction behind the scenes well into a campaign and only reveal their machinations as things really ramp up. Then you could have the whole political landscape react to this development once the PCs are strong enough to exert serious influence.

[@aristospagang2446]

a player having a stable of characters and almost playing as a faction seems really fun

[@demonazgrael]

💯 Mike.

[@chrisnomina650]

Just listened to your video about factions and monuments! Thanks for all the great content!

[@deProfundisAdAstra]

I've been running a veeery faction heavy game for the last several months, and the whole table has had a great time! A lot of this is very table-dependent I think, but every character in the party is part of a different faction, and watching them play off of each other has been fantastic. "Every life lost has been lost because of you", one PC recent said to another while overlooking a battlefield, faulting them for inaction which benefited their Union of Water Shapers. Yet even with some of that tension, the party is slowly realizing that they need to put aside their differences and choose each other over any larger group, and two PCs have already turned, outright, against their factions and off'ed several high standing members. Really really exciting stuff! And I think all of that came from having five factions who haaate one another, and four players picking different sides.

[@ivancarabano]

Great video!

[@jmcsmtp]

Great advice.

[@pheralanpathfinder4897]

I love faction intrigue. Sadly 5e forgotten realms gutted their factions. That seems to have resulted in many players not liking factions. Many of the most popular streamed games barely touch upon factions. Hopefully as those tables mature as gamers they will embrace factions and intrigue.

[@AlphastreamRPG]

This guy can't remember the city of Tyr? What a hack! (Just kidding. I can't remember the main city in Greyhawk some days!)

[@liondovegm]

what is it? Freeport right?

[@mineshafter85]

Sly i lova ya but please use some new thumbnails already

[@MythStaff]

I personally think they are simple, informative, and iconic. As soon as i see that thumbnail i know who it is and what im getting