How to Use Factions and Faction Favor in D&D

Using factions and faction favor in your Dungeons & Dragons game increases the verisimilitude of your game world and adds lots of other cool benefits. In this video, I discuss how dungeon masters can implement factions and faction favor in their D&D games, and I also go over the faction favor system that I use in my games.

------------------------------SUPPORT THE CHANNEL--------------------------------------

------------------------------SOCIAL-----------------------------------------------

------------------------------PRODUCTS I LOVE------------------------------
these are products what I use in my games and/or endorse (affiliate)
use code THEDMLAIR to get 10% off this online RPG map-making tool

------------------------------CREDITS/DISCLAIMERS----------------------------------------------
Art ▶▶ Adobe Stock & Wizards of the Coast
Music and Sound Effects ▶▶ Epidemic Sound

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Some videos on this channel are unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.

#dnd #dungeonsanddragons

[Yelonek]

If Luke ever shaves:
"Hi, I am a dungeon master since highschool..."
Everyone - so what? Since yesterday?

[handlebarfox]

"but how do we keep our cult secret?"
"easy. We use a name that no one can say."

[glenrutherford]

four fingers one thumb. Just now getting back into D&D after about twenty-five years. Boy has it changed.

[fiend-off-the-grid]

Another thing you could do with the individual faction system is have a couple of faction missions running at the same time, perhaps in conflict with each other, and have certain players who aren't aligned with either faction choose which side to be on for the time being. This way, you could still involve all your players and introduce a little interpersonal conflict without necessarily derailing the main campaign too heavily

[Lcirex]

I will choose to ally with the faction backing Gwapo in preparation for the coming cat nobility house wars. Glory to Gwapo ruler of the Dm's lair!!!

[georgemercer]

Aside for establishing motives, I DO have an idea for where factions would gather for meetings, handing out quests, etc.

1. Divine temple for Paladins & Clerics
2. Magic school for Sorcerers, Warlocks and Wizards
3. An underground "sanctuary" for Rogues (Thieves/Assassins)
4. A location in a forest for Druids, Rangers and (maybe) Barbarians
5. A military base-like location for other Fighters (knights)
6. A different type of temple for Monks

Please let me know if I left any out

[CitanulsPumpkin]

This may seem obvious to some, but if you're going to run a faction heavy campaign pick up a copy of Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. No matter the campaign world, that book has the tools to run faction/guild campaigns. The ten guilds of Ravnica are fully detailed and provide a wide array of tangible benefits to players.

If you're not running the game in Ravnica then simply rename the faction in that book.
The lord's alliance = the Azorious senate.
The flaming fist = the Boros Legion.
The Harper's = house dimir, but not evil.
The emerald enclave = the selesnyan conclave.
The zhentarim = either the Orzhov syndicate or also house dimir.
The cult of the dragon = the Gruul clans.

Each Guild's description comes with full write ups, a background tied to agents of that guild, and rewards players earn for gaining enough renown to rank up in the guilds. Plus the back half of the book is practically its own monster manual.

[MyanRiller]

Great timing, I just finished mapping out all the intrigue and factions at play in my main city. Really looking forward to implementing much of what you've talked about here!

[melkiorwiseman]

The Neverwinter Nights game has a "faction" system but it has a slightly different purpose. It determines how the NPCs behave toward each other and toward the players.
There are standard factions such as:
Commoner: Your standard flavour NPC who usually just wanders around and looks pretty.
Merchant: NPCs who sell stuff. Yeah, I know, it's an awesome concept. ;)
Defender: NPCs who defend anyone in the above two factions. City guards, scouting patrols, etc.
The Player Faction: All players are automatically their own faction, hence it's one faction and several factions at the same time.
Hostile: The Monster NPCs. They attack anyone in any of the above factions on sight.
But if you make your own custom modules, you can make your own custom factions. One example of a custom faction is a "Collaborator" faction which is initially friendly toward both the Player Faction and the Hostile Faction, and the Hostile faction is friendly toward anyone in the Collaborator Faction.
There are also scripting commands to allow temporary or permanent adjustments to be made to a player's Faction Reputation with a particular faction, so it's possible for a faction to start out being friendly but become hostile either permanently or temporarily, and vice-versa.
It's a limited system of course, since it's mechanical and has to follow strict rules, but it still allows for a lot more versatility than you might expect from a mere video game.
I forgot to add, the faction system works on a 0-100 basis where 90+ equals friendship (will help you if you're attacked), 0-10 equals enmity (will attack on sight) and anything in between is neutral.

[thetruesithis]

one of the best youtube chanels for dnd
vids are short AND pact with info
deserves more love

[twilightgardenspresentatio]

Man it’s been a long tine since a both useful and original system has been introduced. Thank you!

[MatthewCampbell]

With players being members of different factions, what I typically suggest is making sure that other players can, at least, help the other player in some way. For example, let's say a Paladin and a Rogue (who is a bounty hunter) happen to be in the same party. The rogue checks with the guild and looks for bounties and finds one they like. This is technically a bounty hunting guild quest, but there probably isn't an explicit reason why the Paladin can't assist the Rogue in tracking down their quarry.

[evankurasu]

i never understood the concept of sending assassins... i mean, unless the party are extremely over-leveled in comparison to the other potential adventurer parties in the setting, you could always have a faction set up a bounty for the PCs.

Think about it. Why would a faction waste manpower, especially the no-doubt valuable services of hand-picked assassins, on a troublesome party when they instead could be using those particular services for things more aligned to their goals (e.g. kill a rival faction leader, or whatever)?

The PC party is usually little more than a noticeable distraction (at first) when they start to directly interfere with any particular faction, so why would said faction personally hire assassins or use their own when they instead can just name a price and send out fliers? Let someone else do the dirty work, the faction has more important matters to attend to.

And then if the PC party still manages to interfere further, keep hiring the price until either it's no longer affordable or it cannot be ignored by even the most uninterested of people. For instance, Lord Paxton (did i spell that right?) seems like they type of individual who can afford whatever he could need, so he's got the resources to set such a price.

You could easily have someone like him write down enough zeros that'll make even the friendliest of towns into a most dangerous place to traverse for wanted men.

[aliceofspades]

I want the stuffed kitty-cat! :D <3

[Someguywithalotoftism]

My current game was supposed to just be a dungeon diver to pass the time between waiting for a couple people to get off work for my other campaign, but the quarantine hit so my dad, my brother and I just decided to play this one more now and so we finished the dungeon and now I had to like add a bunch of factions, but basically now the campaign is a gang war. I love mafia stuff so it’s perfect :).

[clementmoulin]

Luke your skits are EXCELLENT !! :D keep it them :)

[moonshuttle]

Really love the way you do the intro for your videos. Great content also!

[tannerray]

My current campaign has a character and his faction in charge of the undercity of the city the players are in. He has taken a very high level of interest in the players and tried to help them and give them quests. He’s seemingly been trying to increase his favor with the player faction. Since this flips the usual dynamic, the players have been very confused and haven’t murdered him despite him giving red flags and the chances the players had.

[PlehAP]

I was recently running a Star Wars campaign (set more or less in the same time period as The Mandalorian, between Ep 6 and 7).

Factions in the galaxy recovering from the Empire were definitely at the forefront of their adventure.

[mudshrooze]

I love factions they really push cultures and games and I'm not good at expressing how much fun I have making factions for my games