Build a Faction List – Lazy GM Tip

Mike shows how to build a useful faction list for your D&D and RPG campaigns.

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[oscargarciahinde]

Ok how is this even possible. I was working on my faction doc right now and your video popped up.

[ljmiller]

I forget which streamer did this but I have started using faction grids. Factions in my campaign are political and alliances are very important. So the Grand Duke's alliance contains below it the Army of the Grand Duchy, the Order of the Griffin, The Kingdom of Thieves (a secret alliance), the Callarii Elves, and the School of Magic, along with other smaller factions. But those are the important ones. This way when characters do work for the Stevedores Union at the docks it has an impact on their faction alliances. The other axis of the grid is troop type. There will be a standard troop type, a brute troop type, a ranged or magic or elite troop type, and a leader type. This is useful for more than just war games. It helps with scene setting and allows a few faction alliance grids to control very complex interplay between multiple factions, without having to go through all the details of each individual faction. Simply consider the alliances and what they must do given the goal of having the most fun. EDIT: Dire Den was the source for this alliance idea.

[JJMJester]

Wow, this is a very simple but awesome tool for GM's to help brainstorm. It's really the big thing I feel that's needed by most GMs, just a way to jump start the creative brainstorming process.

[lachrymalquietus]

My party is just starting a hexcawl and this will be invaluable. I'm going to add "Roll Twice" as the last option to stir up some occasional faction conflict. Great advise as always. Thank you! :D

[mikecarson]

nice to see your three examples with the random dice rolls !

[DnDNerd]

Excellent video Mike! Very inspirational

[fathouse]

Gonna prep my next sesh with this for call of the netherdeep thx Sly

[seanmowilliams]

Great tip! I’m going to use this in my next game!

[thecactusman]

I just ran a Call of Cthulhu game set in interwar Europe with a heavy emphasis on the spread of Communism and the rise of Fascism as a major issue for the investigators. This is really simple advice but it makes so much sense for what I'm trying to do especially since there's logically subgroups that are entirely ignorant of the Mythos. So this helps me figure out who the players are dealing with in the moment.

[paulbigbee]

Second only to the adventure's central tension, _Factions_ are the most important part of my games. I try to combine your approach here with Runehammer's technique that he described in his video "Session Prep", in which he used the "Circle of Relationships" method to describe Factions positions towards one another.

[BlackShardStudio]

Oh hey, finally a tip about something I actually did right already.

[waywreck]

Is there a link to the 1d100 monuments?

[willmendoza]

This is wild. My game also has a giant stone guardian of Haldrin…

[DanielLopez-mohz]

Another question I thought of is, Do you give bonuses to PCs who join factions and do the bonuses increase as the PCs move up the ranks? Or do factions exist in your games just to add depth, RP opportunities and plot hooks?

[ted]

just coming from a 2yr old video of yours that got recommended to me; i was thinking that you had a lovely voice, but you would be much more engaging if you made hand gestures or had extra information on screen (like drawings) - and after i finished that video i decided to check on your most recent one to see that you’re doing exactly that! I know it’s not really my place to say this, but I think you have seriously improved as a content creator over the past 2 years. i’m not going to subscribe yet but ill add this video to a playlist and hope i get recommended more content of yours in the future :)

[DanielLopez-mohz]

What is the page you're typing into? Is that official Sly Flourish software?