With my players moving onto a new hex map, I wanted a nice simple faction system to keep the world active. I’ve tried various systems in the past but they all involved so much tracking and rolling that, like 5e’s inventory system, I found them too much of a bother to deal with even though having a system of some sort in place would have improved the game. On the previous hex map I’d gone more loosey goosey, but it may as well not have existed for all the use it provided.
I play a lot of Nordic Weasel solo miniature tabletop games, and the sci fi offering - 5 Parsecs from Home - provides a nice simple system in one of its expansions which slots into the campaign turn procedures of a planet-hopping Firefly-esque crew. It’s the faction system I’ve found myself most consistently using, so I thought I’d try adapting condensing its tables and making it a bit more genre neutral:
Factions
Each faction is represented by Presence and Power. There can be narrative overlap between the two:
- Presence measures general recognition and impact on the region. Can represent geographical size, importance members, political reach, etc.
- Power measures the capacity to take action against other factions politically, militarily, financially, etc.
Choose an appropriate score for factions in both elements, generally ranging from 1 to 5 with scope to go higher for the insanely powerful factions.
At the start of each month, or after the adventurers have done something significant for one of the factions, roll on the following table and determine the narrative reason for the effect:
| D20 | INTRIGUE | EFFECT |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Consolidate | Choose a random faction. Roll 1d6. If higher than its Power, add +1 Power. |
| 3-4 | Respect | Choose a random faction. Roll 1d6. If higher than its Presence, add +1 Presence. |
| 5-6 | Undermine | Choose a random faction. Roll 1d6. On 5-6, -1 from its highest value. |
| 7-8 | Reinforce | Choose a random faction. Roll 1d6. On 5-6, +1 to its highest value. |
| 9-11 | Struggle | Choose two random factions. Roll 1d6+Power for both. -1 from the losing faction’s highest value. On a draw, both factions lose. |
| 12-15 | Usurp | Choose two random factions. Roll 1d6+Influence for both. -1 from the losing faction’s highest value, and +1 to the winning faction’s lowest value. On a draw, both factions lose. |
| 16-19 | Aggression | Choose two random factions. Roll 1d6+highest value for both. -1 from the losing faction’s lowest value, and +1 to the winning faction’s highest value. On a draw, both factions lose. |
| 20 | New Faction | Generate a new faction. If unsure of suitable Presence and Power values, roll 1d3 for each. |
Any faction reduced to 0 in either Presence or Power is wiped out or dispersed. If they haven’t been taken over by another faction, then there is a power vacuum somewhere. Ideal for a new faction to rise up and upset the balance, or for an adventuring party to exploit.
An example table charting the factions might look like:
| Faction | Presence | Power |
|---|---|---|
| Threatening foreign nation | 3 | 4 |
| Capital city | 5 | 4 |
| Town | 3 | 3 |
| Key fortification | 2 | 1 |
| Secretive organisation | 1 | 3 |