Out of Curiosity
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@Notsoslimshady:
What about opening up Cult of the Dragon as a DM faction? give some love to the NE and CE characters.
We just kicked their ass. Obviously they could come back, but something like this should be spoilerific not some come one come all faction.
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Cult of the Dragon could never be main stream. But a faction run by them to appear to be something else would be good. A school for the Dark Arts perhaps. But done just with in the law.
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Factions that are based on restrictive alignments like Cult of the Dragon are boring in my opinion and have a limited appeal. As a plot faction sure but as something more permenant no. But personally I prefer when evil groups arise organically out of player efforts like in the past instead of being propped up, it feels too artifical when that happens. I miss the days of self made villians like Pree and Anen, granted they got DM support but that was after they had proven themselves. If we want to go for a barbarian/druid faction I believe there was one written up on the old v5 spoilers forum could just use that.
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There's also the fact that Anya Deschurr is dead.
Tbh I don't see why both the EO and Merciful Sword couldn't return. Might spread out the player base a bit but if you build it they will come
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I liked the idea of the EO, in the sense that they where so different. But I be far more interested, in seeing something that goes -against- the established, than something with roles that can easily be filled by someone else. Hence, something new. A zhentarim cell, a sembian army advancing, or fire knives. Something that actively works AGAINST the established setting. A fanatic druid faction, with non good tendencies, working to destroy Hardcastle. Hells, all of the above, could be thrown into a meta faction like the Pilgrims.
It could also be an Arabellan House, seeking to become nobles, like the Delains, Goldfeather, etc.
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If you bring back EO, bring an infernalist faction to oppose it. And if you find back the Merciful Swords, you could bring back the silent court to oppose it. Or some other faction.
I personally prefer the Merciful Swords. We dont really need EO since PDs/WWs can do their job. What we need is judges so we can sentence people to the pits! ^__^
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A powerful nature based faction or a barbarian faction might be what Arabel needs. Not exactly enemies of Law, but not friends either. Competitors, occasional allies, occasional enemies.
Faction concept that was taken from the forum back when DMs were solicting suggestions for v5 which people seemed to have liked back than. History would have to be modified a bit though.
Formed out of many backgrounds, farmers displaced by war, deserted soldiers, desert tribesmen driven south by the Shadovar, disillusioned faithful in the wake of Tymora's demise, and others cast aside in society's wake, the Duine tribes formed gradually, but eventually untied to declare themselves a people free of rulers and the greed and politics of civilization. Regarded with suspicion, if not outright distaste and hostility by those clinging to civilizations flawed ways, they are forbidden to make their camps too close to the city.
While forced to trade with civilized folk for some necessities, the Duine maintain a spirit of free-sharing and barter amidst themselves. What is not needed by one is freely given to another who has need, and that which merits trade is done directly, and not in the fashion of coins and parchments that inspire lust in the hearts of men. When one joins the Duine they abandon their past life and titles, are "reborn" with a new name and identity. Honored speakers and elders exist among them, but no tribesman is forced to follow another's advice.
The Duine will defend themselves fiercely, and many have learnt the arts of warfare to survive amidst the wilds. Whether the attackers be roaming beasts or men come to enslave, raid, or drive the tribes off, the Duine are a fierce opponent, rallying to each others cause. Several such battles have taken place when forces of civilized law have sought to reclaim criminals who have taken up new life amidst the tribes. It is suspected that more underhanded merchant groups and mercenaries may be misrepresenting the Duine as dangerous bandits and raiders, in order to eliminate a potential challenge to their lifestyle
Anti-civilization extremists, druids, mages who want freedom from city rules, criminals seeking redemption (or using the cover to run their nefarious deeds), explorers, lycans nad outcast freaks, and whatnot all in one.
If you bring back EO, bring an infernalist faction to oppose it. And if you find back the Merciful Swords, you could bring back the silent court to oppose it. Or some other faction.
This practice of creating arbitrarly in diametric opposition has been used too often these past years imho. Harts vs Legion Citadel vs Court etc. has been done over too many times and people have said in the past (and more recently in Mol's faction thread) that it gets old and stale. I think the old dynamic of pre v4 factions which had in some cases differently aligned interests but could unite when an outside threat enroached upon the city led to much more nuanced and interesting interactions. Stuff like the Zhentarim, Shadovar factions did exist but were created in that context of the current plot going on at the time and with the understanding that they would most likely lose. When it comes to the vaccum left by the court CoA's playerbase has a rich history of antagonist PCs who have become the stuff of legends. It will fill itself it always has. Personally I enjoyed it when CoA's underworld was obsecured in mystery with factions whose members had to take oaths of OOC secrecy with hidden players moving the pieces. Olouth said years ago you could play this server for ten years and still not know everything thats going on. That pretty much described CoA's underworld in a nutshell and I'd like to see it go back to that.
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@Notsoslimshady:
Deschurr would be just another good aligned DM faction, there is currently only one faction that evil pcs can realistically join and its a predominantly LN faction.
IIRC Deschurr was actually just chaotic, with good leanings. Some of the main NPCs and indeed most player chars were probably CG or NG, but Deschurr's principle was being the chaotic, lawbreaker faction.
With Fezznick as the big time law guys, Thond as the trader guys, and Bhaliir as the shady, "probably" LE guys.
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Considering that I tend to either roll Good aligned PC's or have my Evil aligned PC's earn good points, I would love to see Merciful swords come back. That being said, I chose something different, because if you bring back the Merciful Swords Id roll up another Pally right away, and I need a break form the LG lifestyle, hence my current rogue. :-)
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Personally I enjoyed it when CoA's underworld was obsecured in mystery with factions whose members had to take oaths of OOC secrecy with hidden players moving the pieces
What? When was this? Cause I had a character in the UH (Thieves Guild of v3) and I don't remember that shit at all.
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Personally I enjoyed it when CoA's underworld was obsecured in mystery with factions whose members had to take oaths of OOC secrecy with hidden players moving the pieces
What? When was this? Cause I had a character in the UH (Thieves Guild of v3) and I don't remember that shit at all.
Silent Court worked similar to this. it only took PC members who were already prominent villains in their own right.
One of the reasons why you may not remember it Forte, was that their name never did come to public knowledge.
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I meant the oath part, not the villain in own right bit. Usually the UH was a stepping stone to that, if the player was motivated and able to capitalize on it.
Cause as far as I know we were never made to take OOC oaths of secrecy.
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I would love to see something new and "Knightly" that can create some controversy and conflict. Maybe a LG knightly order that is SO LG they borderline on seeming Tyrannical in the current setting? Maybe an evil Knightly order sponsored by the Unquiet Night? Maybe with the Zhents and the Shadovar fighting, there can be something stemming off of that? Maybe not joining one of them but something related? Red Hart Remnants seeking to return Lhal to power? There is so much history that has and opportunity to make a second coming in the form of a new faction right now! I'm excited to see how it turns out.
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@verkosh:
There's also the fact that Anya Deschurr is dead.
Actually….spoilers.
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Making a PC faction into a DM faction could be good. Push plots, get people involved, do not be destroyed. It would be the most rewarding for the players in the long run. Encourage alliances and make enemies that much more enticing. Since you are not just risking the life of your faction, youare also trying to stop your opponents from becoming a fixture in the setting. This would probably get out of hand at some points, but disregarding the occasional trigger happy PKer that plays here, it would be a great way to let the player base influence the world.
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Making a PC faction into a persistant NPC faction could be good.
Isn't the militia just that?
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So why not another one?
PLayers strive for this stuff all the time. Why take that away by adding an old or revamped faction? The Militia went through several changes and has existed on the server for a while. It started in old town, merged….slightly....with the Citadel ((Players based out of the citadel anyway)) and eventually came back again as a new concept based out of the citadel. It took a lot of work from many players to make it happen. I was glad to see a Militia put IG. My old PC Asharris was a huge advocate for during the witch king and managaged to get the darn Cyrist paladin to sponsor it. Making the Old Town Militia. It was a blast, and even though it happened long after Asharris was dead, it kept a lot of people occupied for a long while. -
I meant they're already doing that, also they won't take it away by adding another faction .. they're just adding another faction.
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I understand what you mean, but how much room for DM factions is there? Bringing in another ready made one will take a spot that players could fill. We have limited space and population. All I am saying. The idea of the EO or MS sounds fine to me, I will have fun with either.
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Player factions that do amazing things will likely find themselves with plenty of support, just like a DM faction, perhaps even being adopted by a DM faction that wants to sponsor them. We did it with the militia, we can do it again.