NaGaDeMon / RoleVember 2019 - Insularity
One of my early thoughts with this game was that the human mystics would be able to affiliate themselves with a variety of groups to tailor their magical mathodologies. One character might see themseves as a fusion of Chinese Taoist principles and technological artificing, another might draw on Pagan dogma as they refine their herbalist approaches to the craft of reality weaving.
But looking at all of the factions I've created, I can see that they're all pretty mysterious, insular, and generally work at cross purposes to one another. A character belonging to two (or more) factions under this kind of political structuring would be a bit of an anomaly, and would be severely distrusted by both groups, if not ostracised (or even hunted) by them.
This makes a good setting for shadowy intrigue, but there needs to be something that binds the disparate groups together. A unifying organisation that allows members of these groups to work together against a greater outside threat... which then brings up the point that there might need to be a greater outside threat.
Once again, if I look to the mages from White Wolf's Mage: the Ascension, there is the Council of Nine. This is a unifying body caught between the machinations of the Technocracy, the sheer chaos of the Marauders and the subversive depravity of the Nephandi. If I look at the vampires from Vampire: the Masquerade, the various clans unite under banners of Camarilla, Sabbat, or Anarch... where each faction fights against one another while serving as bonding elements for characters of different clans to work together.
The cross purposes of different character background elements can be great for the story, they add a degree of richness to the people we're telling these stories about. Different player characters should have reasons to agree in some areas, while having reasons to disagree in others, that's always good for pushing narrative forward.
I'm going to keep working on these "base-level" factions in much the same way that I have been, but perhaps add a couple of uber-factions that work to unite various groups together in some way. Now it's just a case of working out how what themes might tie these otherwise conflicting groups together, perhaps providing a few books of magic for these uber-factions that reflect the wider ideals of the group, and serve as a crossover point for mystics of different belief systems to share a common understanding. (Anything that adds more potential books to a character's library has got to be a positive)
But looking at all of the factions I've created, I can see that they're all pretty mysterious, insular, and generally work at cross purposes to one another. A character belonging to two (or more) factions under this kind of political structuring would be a bit of an anomaly, and would be severely distrusted by both groups, if not ostracised (or even hunted) by them.
This makes a good setting for shadowy intrigue, but there needs to be something that binds the disparate groups together. A unifying organisation that allows members of these groups to work together against a greater outside threat... which then brings up the point that there might need to be a greater outside threat.
Once again, if I look to the mages from White Wolf's Mage: the Ascension, there is the Council of Nine. This is a unifying body caught between the machinations of the Technocracy, the sheer chaos of the Marauders and the subversive depravity of the Nephandi. If I look at the vampires from Vampire: the Masquerade, the various clans unite under banners of Camarilla, Sabbat, or Anarch... where each faction fights against one another while serving as bonding elements for characters of different clans to work together.
The cross purposes of different character background elements can be great for the story, they add a degree of richness to the people we're telling these stories about. Different player characters should have reasons to agree in some areas, while having reasons to disagree in others, that's always good for pushing narrative forward.
I'm going to keep working on these "base-level" factions in much the same way that I have been, but perhaps add a couple of uber-factions that work to unite various groups together in some way. Now it's just a case of working out how what themes might tie these otherwise conflicting groups together, perhaps providing a few books of magic for these uber-factions that reflect the wider ideals of the group, and serve as a crossover point for mystics of different belief systems to share a common understanding. (Anything that adds more potential books to a character's library has got to be a positive)
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