What makes it fun to play a minion / PC faction character?
-
I have thought this for some time and would be curious hearing what other people think.
So what makes it fun for -you- to play a minion or PC faction character?
Do you prefer your "master" to set clear goals for you and bound your character to serve his will only?
Or do you prefer not to be completely bound to the character you are following?
Do you like to be able to pursue your own goals, or just stick with the goals that come along the other character?
Do you want to spent all of your IG time with your master, or hang around freely mostly?What makes PC factions appealing for you?
Clear goals? Good company? Lootz + plotz to seek together? Do you like to be bound to the PC faction, or be able to work with all other characters of the server when you are in the faction?
Do you prefer faction that pretty much all can join, or factions that are strict about who are able to get into them? (races, class, faith etc.)Just some examples I thought from the hip. Word is free!
-
-
The more specific the goals/paths are, the more you're targeting a minority. Broad goals give more leeway for different approaches.
-
Good company is always a plus.
-
The general air of everything leading somewhere, not just "faction X existing for the sake of it."
-
Recognition and reward in any faction, PC or DM, gives a sense of accomplishment that gives more incentive to stick with it.
-
Giving real responsibility, however minor, also helps. i.e., don't micromanage everything.
In my personal opinion, the best way to keep people hooked on your faction is to make them feel wanted and useful, a real and important part of everything you're doing, rather than window dressing or disposable tools. If you can accomplish this with a few, others will notice and sign on. Above all, keep things happening.
That's what I figure, at any rate. In the end, it's a really hard question! People's tastes are just infinitely varied.
-
-
There is a lot of responsibility on the guy who is the head of the faction to keep it viable!
I think a lot of factions have existed in the past simply ''to exist'' and have no done anything at all, however there have been some (the Iron Anvil in it's early days for example) have become a real force on the server. The more of these the better! Really give it some thought when creating a player faction - is it going to be fun for your and your enemies or just a place where a bunch of people write letters to each other.
A player faction can be a great too for both the people in the faction and those trying to bring it down. Spies, liars, sneak people all trying to get into the faction to mess it up / uncover the secrets with it etc, or someone trying to oust the head guy and replace him.
-
I commit myself to factions when the members of the factions intrigue me. A faction can have all the goals, loot, and DM attention in the world, but if the members of the faction - the characters with whom my character would interact each day - don't intrigue me, I don't commit myself to the faction.
-
Before I join a faction I usually think "What is it they're doing/trying to do and is it awesome?"
"We're evil mercenaries, rawr!" Yeah, that's fun and I'm sure you'll get every evil character on the server to join for a few days, but once everyone realizes they're not doing anything other than walking around yelling "We're evil mercenaries, rawr!" in their black Team Evil uniforms they'll figure out that the faction is stagnating and move on.
"We're an evil group of mercenaries trying to conquer West Arabel so we can trade it to Thay for positions in their Embassy when they establish it." A big group of thayan wanna-bes trying to conquer a section of the city for a foreign nation is bound to keep everyone's attention way longer.
Although the 'evil' or 'thayan' aspects might exclude some people because they're too specific, and I might suggest trying to hide that and appear neutral if you're really looking to get people interested near the start. Maybe try and seem like a band of warriors interested in the district for its possible trade potential, or something.
So yeah, a good set of goals that will interest people and keep them working for your faction is a great place to start, as well as a concept for your group is always good.
Also being someone that people can stand being around is a bonus. Try and not lose your luster as time goes on, make encounters and conversations memorable with your interesting and complex character and for the love of all that is holy don't be a whiner. If you're constantly complaining to everyone in your faction or on IRC or over the forums about how terrible everything is going and how you don't understand what's going wrong, your PC factionmates will start to get a negative vibe and either leave because they can't stand the whining or begin to get the impression that everything is going wrong and the faction doesn't stand a chance.
I'd also advise not avoiding conflict. Conflict spices things up and keeps things interesting and keeps people interested. Make bold moves, stir the pot, and shake the foundation of the server with your faction's deeds.
Don't create conflict just for the purpose of conflict, though. If it doesn't make sense IC don't do it, but don't run and hide from conflict either.
I'm getting close to rambling now, but that's the tip of the iceburg on what I think leads to a good and successful faction.
PS: If you do make a successful PC faction, you'll encounter haters. Haters are people who can't stand seeing people around them have fun/succeed, so they begin to hate. Hate can consist of spreading vicious rumors, claiming you're a "DM pet", or just outright spamming you with hateful things. Be prepared to have to deal with these people.
If you feel comfortable with doing so, send the DM Team screenies if you catch someone doing this. We're good at dealing with jerks.
-
I've been in PC factions all my time here, and this is what I've found to make things fun for me as a member of varying importance and influence. What makes PC factions interesting to me:
-
Some restrictions on types of members. I feel it creates a closer connections and fellowship when people are more similar, but only to a certain extent. (race, alignment only, some class restrictions)
-
Make your members feel like they contribute. Don't just have two or three top leaders who decide and do everything, while the rest become puppets to their masters will (nothing wrong with that, actually, but make people feel valuable to your faction).
-
Recognize the effort of your members. A small pat on the back from time to time can go a long way for many people.
-
Have a goal to work towards. Something for your members to do, even when their masters are not IG. Hand out assignments, plot hooks, tasks etc. You can't always be IG, but that shouldn't mean your members need to hang about and wait for you to come telling them what to do.
-
Don't isolate yourself from 90% of the server by doing crazy things before becoming established and invaluable. It really sucks for your members to not be able to interact with anyone because they wear the faction colours. Trust me.
-
What Cama said. Especially the "don't whine" part. If you complain about not getting the DM attention you want, even tho you have a faction and all, or complain that you don't win regardless of effort and things like that; it'll wear on the morale OOCly of your members and its easy to get bored and demotivated.
-
-
Minions are fun cause all you gotta do is tag along..
good for when your play time is limited.leaders are alos fun cause eventually someone is gonna challenge that leadership both externally and internally.
-
Some great points made!
Albeit you have made some excellent points how to make a PC faction successful, I´d like more thoughts in individual level. What makes the faction / master & follower relationship appealing and interesting when looking from individual´s eyes.
What makes the minion itch to log in to do his part?For example, I have been in many kinds of master/minion relationship and I can find many good points from them all.
With one character I saw the "master" character only once or twice a week, but it was still fun as he kept me along with his plots, but at the same time I was free to do what I wanted with my character.
In other case I met with the master character almost daily. I got to be part of the plots nicely, along with all his other dealings, but my character was pretty much bound to follow the masters will in all actions. It was still good fun for me.Personally I love pc factions that restrict the characters who can join in them at least to some degree, I also love chance of internal conflict within the faction and chance to rise in rank-system; for me such give great depth and interest to faction from a member´s eyes.
One personal example is when I became a part of certain PC faction that had large ranking system and used it well. It seemed every high-ranking members had something to do and the big guy made only the most important decisions. This gave a feeling of a distant leader, who didn´t even meet or know the lower factions members much. This could be good and bad, but I -loved it-. When I finally got into an interview with the boss, it felt like to chat with a King. The leader was interested about my character and chatted for about 15 minutes about this and that. Even as it was a quick chat, I felt awesome after that.
There are also many other things I like. But no more about that now.
Awesome points all. Keep it coming!
-
Similalry to how faction NPCs give tasks to PCs and then live with the consequences of the PCs actions, is what I like to see. Clear goals and themes. I don't know if I succeeded in my own faction, but I made the attempt to make sure everyone was important and more importantly felt vital to our plans.
-
If you're asking on an individual level-
In my opinion, it all usually boils down to making the subordinate feel vital. Everyone likes to be key in something. Give them important tasks, don't micromanage, take their advice into account, make them feel they have a hand in everything you do, directly or indirectly.
Above all, one of the most important points presented here by the others; You should be a leader that people -want- to follow, IC and OOCly. ICly, because you're a wealth of opportunity and action, OOCly because you give off the impression of being able to generate a ton of fun for whomever you take under your wing.
How to go about it? There's really no one answer.
-
The minions that I enjoyed playing seemed to be valuable to the leader. If you find something that the leader wants or needs and you can provide that, you will be valuable, and you will have fun.
My last character, Marin, bankrolled Katelyn Obarstal. Without Marin, Katelyn could not have afforded to do much of what she did. It was Katlyn's leadership and presence/character that made the Faction, but it was Marin's gold that greased the wheels. I had so much fun knowing that Marin's gold was being used for something other than obtaining more uber gear for herself. Marin was known as a very greedy dwarf, but in reality, she was extremely generous.
So, find something that a faction leader needs, deliver that, and you will have fun in that faction becuase you are needed.
-
1. A fun cause. Doesn't even need to be epic or impressive, just fun.
2. A fun leader. Fun can be the cunning assassin who meticulously plans every move, to the idiot barbarian who swings his sword at anything that twitches.
3. A sense of importance. While you -can- cackle and shout "go forth, my expendable minions" such tends to crush morale. The more vital a player OOCly and a character ICly thinks he is to the faction, the more time is invested. Note that this does not mean that the faction would crumble without the participation of this character, he just needs to feel that way (expendable can stay expendable… if you know what I mean.)
4. New ideas, or exciting ways to accomplish your goals. Yes, you can rob a bank by wearing pot helms, black leathers, and brandishing short swords in the face of a helpless banker. Alternatively, you can hire a roaming band of githyanki to harass the guards while you and your faction bust in the doors to the nobles' vault by burrowing underneath the bank with the aid of a tamed bulette while wearing colorful outfits designed to dampen sound made from the feathers of a rare owl (hunted and plucked by you and your faction).