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Sergeantbrother
2020-01-16, 09:27 PM
A few friends and I are discussing starting a live action rpg in our area with original rules and setting. We have often enjoyed the political and factional aspects of Vamapire: the Masquerade LARP’s with the different Clans, their themes, power sets, loyalties, the intrigues, etc. So we have been discussing doing something like that for our fantasy LARP, with different fantasy factions that give a sort of V:tM Clan dynamic but in a fantasy setting that also incorporates some boffer combat in addition to non combat conflict resolution.

We are still brainstorming on this and we’re trying to think of factions that would exist in this setting. We’ve thought about making different organizations that exist within a fantasy empire and the players can be members of these factions, so in between fighting some NPC’s with a boffer weapon, they can scheme and plot against each other.

We have a couple of ideas, but I was posting here to see if others had more. So far we have one group which are essential the last remaining elves who have formed a faction in the empire, a family descended from a demon-human mix that practices witchcraft, a family with great wealth which loves beauty, opulence, and finery who have access to better equipment and magical items, a holy church with priests and paladins, a conglomerate of guilds, banks, and trading companies, and a scholarly organization of wizards who are the most specialized in both magic and esoteric knowledge. These factions need to be fleshed out more and we need a few more as well.

Any suggestions?

lightningcat
2020-01-16, 11:34 PM
Lets break this down as bulletpoints instead of a paragraph.

Elven Remnents
- dying race, searching for more of their own kind. Either to bring them into the fold, or as a way to escape themselves.
- hold secrets from before the Empire

<Lucifage> family
- practices witchcraft. How is this different than other magics?
- secret origins? Noble family?

<Wealthy> family
- noble house. Near to the Imperial house?
- better equipment and magical items
- could be multiple Grand Ducal houses, each with their own specific flavor

Holy Church
- monotheistic or polytheistic?
- new religion or old?
- priests and paladins. Only knightly order?
- is the Emperor the leader of the church? Or does the leader of the church crown the Emperor? Or are the seperate authorities?
- devils exist. Do angels?

The Trading Guild
- actually dozens of different organizations working both with and against each other, but they keep it out of sight of the nobility.
- better equipment and information

Arcane Collage
- most spcialized in magic and esoteric knowledge


How old is the empire? Expansionist, static, or dwindling? Barbarians at the borders? How long has the Emperor been on the throne. Is he/she married? Kids/heir(s)? How does one get the throne? What other fantasy elements are in the setting? What ones are not allowed? Basic medieval/early renaissance tech?

Sergeantbrother
2020-01-17, 12:12 AM
Thanks for replying. Let me give you the brief description I already have for these factions. I actually have more thorough write ups for a few of them. All subject to change of course, based on feedback and musings.

The Consortium
The Consortium is an organization comprised of a number of powerful businesses and wealthy merchants across the empire. Banking houses, trading companies, guilds, and merchants work together to form perhaps the wealthiest single institution in the empire, rivaling even the house of the Emperor. Not only are Consortium wealthy, they have access to a number of innovations that others may lack and have countless connections and spies in their employ. They typically where fine garments to display wealth, or more practical clothing depending on their role in the Consortium.

The Nuada
The Nuada are a house of the Fae, in some regions of the empire that are called elves, in others the sidhe. Not exactly a family, the Nuada are the ancient survivors of their once more numerous race. Few new sidhe are born and so each member of this House is likely many hundreds of years old. The Nuada are those Fae who joined together to ally with humans of the Empire, the Fomori are those who would not do so and see the Nuada as traitors to their race. Most of the sidhe are tall and slender, usually with a striking appearance and pointed ears. They often wear green garments or those with fur and leather.

The Arcanum
The Arcanum is a society of wizards. They search for those of great intellect and magical potential and induct them into the order. They have great libraries of mystical books and scrolls as well as books of history, science, and philosophy. Among the most magically skilled individuals in the known world as well as scholars without peer, the magisters of the Arcane are feared and mistrusted by most mundane folk. Members of the Arcanum often where simple white or gray robes, trimmed with blue. The more blue, the higher rank the magister is within the Arcanum.

The Temple of Aion
One of the more popular religion of the diverse empire is based on the worship of Aion, a deity of ultimate goodness and light. The Temple of Aion is the organized church dedicated to Aion and Aion’s worshipers. The Temple contains a variety of different clergy, from holy knights who serve as a militant arm of the religion to mendicants who go forth to attend to the needs of the sick and poor. Lower ranking members of the Temple wear brown or undyed robs or tunics, representing humility, while those of higher status wear white or yellow garments, sometimes trimmed with gold or silver respectively.

The Sycorax Family
The Sycorax are a family who carry in their veins the blood of a demonic ancestor. They preserve the purity of their tainted blood through incest and practice a religion comprised of witchcraft and worship of their demonic progenitor. They are known to be inhumanly strong and tough as well as commanding dark magic. Though they vary in appearance, all members of this family will bare at least one inhuman trait that betrays their ancestry: horns, pointed teeth, deathly pale skin, total hairlessness, animal-like or strangely colored eyes, etc. They usually wear black clothing, sometimes with red as well.

The Vesian Family
The Vesian are an extended noble family and number of smaller noble families who have sworn loyalty to the lord of Vesian. The Vesian are known for their love of art and beauty along with their great wealth. The Vesian are collectors of magical items and ancient treasures, acquiring them with their great wealth and contacts, and are especially adept at utilizing these items. The Vesian are known for wearing beautiful and ostentatious clothing and their arms are armor are also of the finest quality and also works of art as well, if not enchanted.


Lets break this down as bulletpoints instead of a paragraph.

Elven Remnents
- dying race, searching for more of their own kind. Either to bring them into the fold, or as a way to escape themselves.
- hold secrets from before the Empire

<Lucifage> family
- practices witchcraft. How is this different than other magics?
- secret origins? Noble family?

<Wealthy> family
- noble house. Near to the Imperial house?
- better equipment and magical items
- could be multiple Grand Ducal houses, each with their own specific flavor

Holy Church
- monotheistic or polytheistic?
- new religion or old?
- priests and paladins. Only knightly order?
- is the Emperor the leader of the church? Or does the leader of the church crown the Emperor? Or are the seperate authorities?
- devils exist. Do angels?

The Trading Guild
- actually dozens of different organizations working both with and against each other, but they keep it out of sight of the nobility.
- better equipment and information

Arcane Collage
- most spcialized in magic and esoteric knowledge


How old is the empire? Expansionist, static, or dwindling? Barbarians at the borders? How long has the Emperor been on the throne. Is he/she married? Kids/heir(s)? How does one get the throne? What other fantasy elements are in the setting? What ones are not allowed? Basic medieval/early renaissance tech?

Those are good points and questions. Let me try to answer. Witchcraft is different from other magic in that the energy source for it is demonic, it draws forth power from demons who are appeased by the magical rituals.

The Vesian family is connected to the emperor through marriages that have taken place over time.

The Temple of Aion is monotheistic in the largely polytheistic empire. The clergy of Sion believe that he is the only true god, or perhaps merely the supreme god, while the empire’s polygamists see him as one among many, but generally have a high opinion of the church. The religion is relatively new, at least as a noteworthy religion in the empire. There are priests and paladins, though one of the most noteworthy forms of clergy are the mendicants who wander from place to place helping the needy while maintaining a vow of poverty. The emperor recognizes the religion as one of the accepted respected churches of ht empire, but he is not directly affiliated with the church. I haven’t decided on angels yet. If they do exist they would be rare.

The empire is perhaps 500 years old or so and has been expansionist in the past but is now stable or dwindling. There are barbarians and outside nations that may become a threat at some future point, maybe to present some NPC’s to fight between scheming.

The emperor is only 5 years old, so he doesn’t really rule in any meaningful sense. The Imperial Estate and a team of advisers effectively rules, who are more easily influenced by the great houses than a strong emperor might be.

I haven’t decided yet on all of the fantasy elements I want to include. I don’t want magic to be so common or powerful so as to make conventional armies and weapons obsolete nor for magic to emulate technology. Most people are humans, the exception so far as the cambion (part demon) family and the Fae, though I was thinking of introducing something like orcs at least as foreign barbarians. I am open minded to other non-human humanoid races for PC’s and NPC’s alike.

Yes, the technology level is late medieval with a few of the wealthier more innovative factions having a bit more advanced technology. Plate armor exits. I was thinking that fighters in service of the Consortium would have access to black powder weapons.

I have more thorough write ups for the Temple of Aion, the Sycorax, the Nuada, and Vesian family. All still works in progress.

ZhaunTheScribe
2020-01-19, 09:11 AM
We have often enjoyed the political and factional aspects of Vamapire: the Masquerade LARP’s with the different Clans, their themes, power sets, loyalties, the intrigues, etc. So we have been discussing doing something like that for our fantasy LARP, with different fantasy factions that give a sort of V:tM Clan dynamic but in a fantasy setting that also incorporates some boffer combat in addition to non combat conflict resolution.

In 30 Years of Adventure, one of the Planescape creators revealed that the idea of the Vampire: The Masquerade clans was their inspiration for the Planescape factions, so that "players had something to identify with and to give them a sense of belonging", so there is already a fantasy analogue to the Vampire clans.