The Ottoman is at your service for factions!

Ottoman · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Ottoman** on Tue Apr 12, 2011 9:56 pm

So, being a mentor now, I've really gotten to thinking about my quasi-home here at RPG. Just how things are rolling, how people play, and just what people think. After something of a self-imposed exile from the place for a while, I came back late last year, and after talking to some old friends and making some new ones, I got to listening, and one idea kept on getting mentioned, over and over again(especially when me and Az would get on one of our tears!), that being: (paraphrased, mind you)

Factions are just too complicated.

Hearing, or rather reading, such fairly upsets me, mostly because it seems that people are scared away from what has become my favorite form of Roleplay because of its occasional complexity. Of course, considering that I am now a blueberry minion of the Jag, I'm always obliged to help out those that need it, though I have a particular soft spot for factions. As such, I'm quite happy to offer assistance to any and all who would look to improve themselves when it comes to creating, organizing, detailing, playing, or simply discussing factions. From a local merchants' guild to an interstellar consortium, a local political party or a international super power, all are welcome.

Feel free to post here in the thread or shoot me a message, I'll be more than happy to help via scenarios, back-and-forth practice, feedback, or simple discussion.

Until then, take it easy!

-Otto

barney_fife · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **barney_fife** on Wed Apr 13, 2011 3:53 am

Do I need to offer my services too?

LawOfTheLand · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **LawOfTheLand** on Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:23 am

Yeah, I think I'll start things off with a question about faction creation. It's no secret that there's a lot of up-front work to be done when making your own race or organization. You have to decide who's in charge of what, how they got there, their tech level, their culture, a couple of inventions to call their own for flavor, and of course an entire world for them to inhabit (because it's just that much easier for them to have absolute control over the rocks they inhabit).

I guess my question, then, is how much detail one should include before saying "that's enough" and throwing a specimen into Gambit's to get inside their psychology. At minimum, I would think that you would need the name of the organization or race and a way for them to schlep around the galaxy so they could by some miracle find themselves in Wing City, where the rest can come out through roleplaying, but something tells me it's a bit more complicated than that.

Ottoman · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Ottoman** on Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:06 pm

Barney, that would really depend on you. Should you?

QB, a very, very good question, and one that can be really tailored to the player. In my experience, the basic minimum which I need to mess around with a race/faction/nation (Which basically entails warmongering, haha! But to each his own.) is a name, a mode of travel, a basic idea for history, a home, and lastly, a society.

I use that last term in a rather collective sense, as I don't just mean like a government, but most basic elements of a society. Basically put, their psychology and sociology, because that's usually the key piece in any kind of RP that I find myself in. If I really want to pull off one of my characters, I like to get in their head.

Of course, those are just the basics that I like to have. I also like, for each separate faction and race to have a specialization of some sort, like you said, to give them a unique flair, and a certain style and strategy to play them.

I hope I make sense, and if I need to explain more, or if you have more questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

-Otto

Doop Ultimate · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Doop Ultimate** on Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:52 pm

Count me in. I'm deep into this genre. Personally, I think that I could use some review.

Optimalist · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Optimalist** on Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:03 am

I am currently developing 2 rival factions.

One focuses on holistic development, the other is a specialist group. They are not at war, they are just in constant competition with one another. Think of it as red vs. blue or east vs. west.

It's really chaotic good vs. lawful good and they are both in a race to field one of their masters as the ultimate champion. What they don't understand is that the ultimate champion needs to be neutral good.

My question is: How do I keep them all basically good (in terms of alignment) without becoming boring?

Jag · **Tips:** 0.00 INK by **Jag** on Sun Jul 10, 2011 9:07 am

At the moment, Ottoman is on a hiatus from the site and we don't expect him to return until the beginning of the American school year in the fall.

The Ottoman is at your service for factions!

a topic in The Academy, a part of the RPG forum.

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