Factions of the Second Sundering

[Nyssis]

Quick question. Are the Veritas and Wardens of the Vale subforums going to be removed --- or in the case of the former, merged with others --- at any point in the near future to reflect in-game changes?

[Catastrophe]

Quick question. Are the Veritas and Wardens of the Vale subforums going to be removed --- or in the case of the former, merged with others --- at any point in the near future to reflect in-game changes?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: We are currently in the process of working on this, but there is no set time frame for when it will happen.

[Kirin]

So the Wardens, Corps de Grace, and Veritas are all gone from what I gather, and everyone else still exists in some form?



That would leave:

Legion
Triumvirate
Black hand
Thayan Enclave
Exigo
Blackwood
The-Shady-Thieves-Group-Which-Does-Not Exist! (aka Eboncoin)

Right? Am I missing anyone?

[ManUtd4Ever]

So the Wardens, Corps de Grace, and Veritas are all gone from what I gather, and everyone else still exists in some form?



That would leave:

Legion
Triumvirate
Black hand
Thayan Enclave
Exigo
Blackwood
The-Shady-Thieves-Group-Which-Does-Not Exist! (aka Eboncoin)

Right? Am I missing anyone?

Since you listed Blackwood, which is a subfaction of Exigo, I would also add Bristlebeard's Whurest Clan.

[Snowmane]

And I am hoping that once Icewind Dale gets opened we'll see the return of a druid faction (which Saulus mentioned as a possibility), since the Furies kind of melted off into the wild rather than being destroyed.

[Fezzik]

Corps is still in flux

[Doubtful]

Their are still active members of the CdG working toward establishing a new future for the faction, their actions will shape what happens with that group.

The Wardens of the Vale and Robin Hoods tree house is gone, as is the Grove and any furies who were there. HOWEVER, the main Fury strongholds in the region haven't been touched and weren't affected at all by the groves messy implosion. Port Avanthyr still has its temple to Umberlee and she still demands tribute from everyone who sails from there, Sundrens other big fury diety, Auril, is in fine form. Geimhreadh has expanded its reach down from the mountains and into Aquor. Over all Natures Wraths disparate elements are in fine form and haven't gone anywhere, aside from the few bizarre ones who hung out at Sylvanus HQ rather than at their own temples.

The Veritas and Legion leadership have seen that the survival of the people of Sundren free from the yoke of Bane would require their combined forces and have set aside their conflict in order to face the greater threat (Although there is PLENTY of RP to be had with the conflicts going on between the newly merged forces).

It's worth mentioning that we're currently looking at the Legion and the Hands as a whole and how the merges and massive loss of troops and territory will affect the command structure of the Legion. Expect more information on this in the coming weeks!

Cartel and Eboncoin sort of rolled into one faction, or at least the ones that didn't get rolled into the side of a mountain did.

Is there any point to joining Blackwood or Exigo?

Plenty! They're a dominant faction now with their own territory free of Legion control. Looking at the map they probably have the most territory and influence to win or lose, depending on the actions of their players!

[Kitsunestume]

Cartel and Eboncoin sort of rolled into one faction, or at least the ones that didn't get rolled into the side of a mountain did.

Is it planning to be officially rolled into one, or just keeping it as is, with no more recruiting capacity for the Cartel-side? I can't speak for the other members, but I think we have quite a fun bit of intrigue with the current leadership-dynamic.

[GodBeastX]

Alot of the changes you guys have seen or are seeing is due to something that's been transitioning for... well, I even see a DM post about it over a year ago.

Essentially we're pushing for a different standpoint on factions and the second sundering is a good point for this from upheaval.

Essentially in past days there was far too much emphasis on NPCs and backstories around them. This bled into factions heavily. Anyone can look at the Wiki at any point and become a scholar, but at the end of the day, what is all that doing for a faction?

I like to take the Red Wizards as an example because throughout Sundren history they have suffered this problem the most. You, Bob the Player, joins the Red Wizards. You got this pimped out faction HQ like it was a Walmart Supercenter, you got legal rights, pretty much command of Aquor and all kinds of gnolls and Red Wizard buddies to kick it with, what's the downside? Some people think you're a jerk.

That is not a good faction design. Sure, it might make ALL the logical sense in the cosmos for the Red Wizard faction to be in that position, but without a feeling every day of "What is my faction trying to accomplish that I can get involved in?" then the Faction may as well not be there since the player is just acting as a typical adventurer.

What we also had a problem with is, factions may have had some sort of goal, but there was already an army of NPCs willing to fulfill it. Let's be clear, players ARE the spotlight of story. Having an army of NPCs to fill in what PCs should be doing is poor design on our part. PCs are the front line and the reason for everything. NPCs should -support- PC direction to keep the story flowing. We're keeping that in mind too. We wants player actions to dictate how a faction evolves, not NPCs.

We keep NPC leaders in factions though not because we're afraid of players taking the reigns, but mostly because real life still exists and when a PC leader poofs, their factions fall apart. It also gives DMs some room to maneuver for stories. Easier for a leader to help push PCs somewhere than the janitor. And also, like it or not, sometimes PCs really can't think of where to go next or overthink a problem. You must have all seen it where you get 8 PCs in a circle and a 6 hour debate takes place on something, never coming to a resolution. It's easier for an NPC to just say "I like all your ideas, so we'll do this." Still, the leaders will take back seats too, delegating to players for various reasons

This is why the current Druid faction didn't sit well with anyone. It's gone through SOOOO many iterations since Ash first shoved it in back in the day, but never had much direction. It's had a few situations shoved into it, but it didn't have goals or overarching conflicts to make it something anyone can hop into and pick up, not just as PCs but also DMs. Sometimes DMs look at a faction and go "What the hell can I do with this? O_O" It should honestly be easy for a DM to do, but stagnant design makes DMs have to artificially inject problems, which means tons of work.

So factions, cities, quests, stories, encounters all are getting reworked for everyone's benefit. There was problems with the initial deployment we're working to remedy, city passes, encounter difficulties, broken functions, etc. We're working on it, don't worry. I just checked in over the weekend code for encounter difficulties which Phantom is putting into all the minions of the world. You'll see the results soon!

But I just wanted to clarify the standpoint on factions so you can understand why we're moving things around.

[The Butcher]

I love the direction factions are moving! I hope it means team good will start driving schemes and faction plots more ambitiously so we can see more wonderful RP.

[Kitsunestume]

I'm aware that all the namby-pamby-pacifist druids are pretty much obliterated or in hiding, and the Wardens faction is gone, but as a Wrath, can Charalath apply to get an awesome looking hat now?

[Doubtful]

If he's a human, or had a human class appearance then it shouldn't be too long before awesome hattage.

Other races are a little behind as I've not had the required 3ds license for aaaages. All good things though, eventually I want all the factions to have a unique hat at the very least. Right now I've got zbrush open in front of me working on a lion plumed open face helmet, hidden away as other subtools is some kind of monastic robe and platemail combo, like some kind of fantasy soldier vicar or something.

Edit: I'm unsure which faction will suit the fire breathing open faced horse (with plume) helmet. But it's to damn funny not to try and stick in somewhere.