I'm looking for a rule set to use in an upcoming campaign. (Faction game)

[LimSindull]

Hello Forum people,


I am looking for a system that may work better than basic DND for an upcoming campaign.

The group I play with is trying out a newer idea for us that will move us away from the murder hobo fun that we enjoy. We have inconsistent players due to work, life, and procrastination, so our glorious DM has offered to make a faction based game where we will work our way through (possibly up) the factions.

DND is fun, however a few of us don't want the whole of whether or not something works out to come out to a bluff check that a rouge will always win, unless the fighter bashes him or the wizard tricks or fireballs him. We are looking for something that would bring the complexities of running an organization into the game.

We are aware and have Burning Wheel; Some players want to play this. Other players want to stick with DND. I am looking at 13th age now.

If anyone knows of any other systems that might work and or have any ideas about what we could do, please comment.

Thank you!

[Goodkill]

GURPS is great. it's very good for roleplaying intensive games and it's simple to use. you can do super powers or magic if you want, and have superhuman characters like in D&D, but all skills are effectively capped at 18 (3d6), so it's a little grittier/more realistic than some systems. you could put a cap on the attributes and then it would be fairly realistic but not so much that it wouldn't be fun.

there are lots of systems out there ... my friend has looked at many, but i have always stuck with D&D and GURPS because i am a very simple person. so i'm just telling you about GURPS but in the knowledge that there may be systems more suited to your needs out there.

[daniel_ream]

We are looking for something that would bring the complexities of running an organization into the game.

Reign. The Company rules are explicitly this.

That said, Reign can be a bit hard to track down these days. The Enchiridion is all you need for rules but because it omits the (bat**** insane) setting it also omits most of the example magic, "martial paths" (exceptional combat abilities for skilled warriors) and esoteric disciplines (exceptional skill abilities for skilled everybody else), leaving you to use the system to make your own. So there would be a lot of prep work up front unless you were willing to run a low magic, low gonzo campaign.

There is also an old 3E Atlas supplement called Dynasties and Demogogues which is about politics. I've only skimmed it, but if your players want to stick with D20 it's an option.

The Powered by the Apocalypse game Urban Shadows has factions built right in core game, but it's tied very closely to the "Classic World of Darkness/Dresden Files with the serial numbers filed off" setting. You didn't mention whether you had a specific setting in mind.

Legend of the Five Rings has a ton of faction politics in it as well; again, very much tied to the "faux Japan/China/SE Asia" setting, though.

[LimSindull]

Thank you both! I will check all of these out.

[Knaight]

That said, Reign can be a bit hard to track down these days. The Enchiridion is all you need for rules but because it omits the (bat**** insane) setting it also omits most of the example magic, "martial paths" (exceptional combat abilities for skilled warriors) and esoteric disciplines (exceptional skill abilities for skilled everybody else), leaving you to use the system to make your own. So there would be a lot of prep work up front unless you were willing to run a low magic, low gonzo campaign.

It's a bit pricey, but the core book is available with print on demand. One can also use the Enchiridion (in all of its $10 glory) plus the free Years of Our Reign online supplements, which add plenty of magic, martial paths, and esoteric disciplines.

[gtroc]

Reign works quite well for faction moves.

I might also recommend Diaspora. It has a really interesting social mechanic that could be used for an awesome faction subsystem. It is the only one that I have encountered that allows for multiple goals and even compromise within the mechanics.

[Tentreto]

I might suggest Stars without Number. Its sci-fi rather than fantasy for the most part, but plays with factions a lot better, and is all free and is being updated regularly as well. I think there also is an actual faction creation and interaction tool for GM's to help with this.
Its also far grittier, in that basically no one can survive much more than a rocket to the face, so might allows easier character introduction.

[BWR]

Legend of the Five Rings has a ton of faction politics in it as well; again, very much tied to the "faux Japan/China/SE Asia" setting, though.

While L5R is usually intensely political and there are several unique and flavorful factions, the rules do virtually nothing with faction building apart from having factions-specific abilities. There is precious little in the way of faction management, and the rogue courtier will always win the Bluff Sincerity check unless the Fighter Bushi hits him or the Wizard Shugenja fireballs him.
L5R just expects that a single roll will not necessarily decisively win every social encounter or achieve every noncombat goal, and D&D doesn't have to be run that way either.