12 Factions of 5e Sigil

[Millstone85]

Here are the 12 most influential factions of Sigil as presented on D&D Beyond (https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1577-download-now-12-sigil-faction-recruitment-posters).

Comments there and under the YouTube video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8siGVvKwsQ) have noted the retconning of the Faction War and also that some factions have been renamed or merged.



https://i.imgur.com/T21i2fJ.png
Athar

Motto: Who Claim the Gods Are Frauds
Factol: Terrance
Headquarters: Shattered Temple
Aligned Plane: Astral Plane
Members: Disillusioned worshipers, skeptics
Epithet: Defiers


https://i.imgur.com/bwTgrQY.png
Bleak Cabal

Motto: Who Find No Sense in the Multiverse
Factol: Lhar
Headquarters: Gatehouse
Aligned Plane: Pandemonium
Members: Consolers, healers, nihilists
Epithet: Bleakers


https://i.imgur.com/yQqrQbe.png
Doomguard

Motto: Who Celebrate Destruction and Decay
Factol: Pentar
Headquarters: Armory
Aligned Plane: Elemental Chaos
Members: Entropists, soldiers, weaponsmiths
Epithet: Sinkers


https://i.imgur.com/gxS6ITF.png
Fated

Motto: Who Take All They Can and More
Factol: Duke Rowan Darkwood
Headquarters: Hall of Records
Aligned Plane: Ysgard
Members: Bullies, moguls, warlords
Epithet: Takers


https://i.imgur.com/J9zTDCS.png
Fraternity of Order

Motto: Who Discover Laws to Find Truth
Factol: Hashkar
Headquarters: High Courts
Aligned Plane: Mechanus
Members: Con artists, lawyers, spellcasters
Epithet: Guvners


https://i.imgur.com/zNimdOa.png
Hands of Havoc

Motto: Who Free Society Through Chaos
Factol: None
Headquarters: Various warehouses
Aligned Plane: Limbo
Members: Anarchists, arsonists, freedom fighters
Epithet: Wreakers


https://i.imgur.com/vq7CDtQ.png
Harmonium

Motto: Who Enforce Peace Through Might
Factol: Sarin
Headquarters: Barracks
Aligned Plane: Arcadia
Members: Authoritarians, guards, mediators
Epithet: Hardheads


https://i.imgur.com/3eOJ7X9.png
Heralds of Dust

Motto: Who Believe Everyone Is Already Dead
Factol: Skall
Headquarters: Mortuary
Aligned Plane: Hades
Members: Corpse collectors, the grief stricken, Undead
Epithet: Dusters


https://i.imgur.com/tc2wOQx.png
Mercykillers

Motto: Who Bring Justice to the Deserving
Factol: Alisohn Nilesia
Headquarters: Prison
Aligned Plane: Acheron
Members: Bounty hunters, executioners, vigilantes
Epithet: Jailers


https://i.imgur.com/jFtCrt9.png
Mind's Eye

Motto: Who Grow to Godhood
Factol: Saladryn
Headquarters: Great Foundry
Aligned Plane: The Outlands
Members: Crafters, guides, wanderers
Epithet: Seekers


https://i.imgur.com/qc2KQ0s.png
Society of Sensation

Motto: Who Find Truth Only in Experience
Factol: Erin Darkflame Montgomery
Headquarters: Civic Festhall
Aligned Plane: Arborea
Members: Artists, entertainers, revelers
Epithet: Sensates


https://i.imgur.com/xpsCDy1.png
Transcendent Order

Motto: Who Act Unfettered by Thought
Factol: Rhys
Headquarters: Great Gymnasium
Aligned Plane: Elysium
Members: Athletes, daredevils, rescuers
Epithet: Ciphers

[Cygnia]

Wonder why they changed the name of the Xaositects to the Hands of Havoc?

[Brookshw]

Wonder why they changed the name of the Xaositects to the Hands of Havoc?

90s are over, weird slang is dead?

[JellyPooga]

Wonder why they changed the name of the Xaositects to the Hands of Havoc?

Probably because no-one could agree on how to pronounce Xaositects :smallbiggrin: (which I always thought was kind of the point!)

[Kane0]

I always figured it was just Kaositect with sloppy handwriting.

[Millstone85]

The Hands of Havoc might be a merging of the Xaositects and the Revolutionary League.

[Sparky McDibben]

90s are over, weird slang is dead?

Not dead, just waiting for the 2030's to get here.

Any word on how the factions integrate mechanically?

[Beelzebub1111]

Probably because no-one could agree on how to pronounce Xaositects :smallbiggrin: (which I always thought was kind of the point!)

Or spell it. Like the whole point was that they are all barmy berks who embrace nonsense. Them having a consistent name and banner to unify under seems against the point.

Tow of my players decided to be Fated when we briefly played, one wanted to be a Sensate. One of the takers embraced the Chaotic Good aspect and wanted to help people help themselves. She took "The only sure way to make good in the planes is to create it yourself" to heart, and as a Priest of Istus she very much wanted to make fate better by taking it into her own hands. The other Taker liked the message but was slightly more objectivist about the whole ordeal in that he wanted to raise his personal station and accumulate wealth and property. He also was strong willed enough to talk back to the taxman and WILL go through the beurocracy to save the collection fees.

The sensate was just a hedonistic bard along with all that entailed.

[Unoriginal]

Why is a faction of greedy bullies associated with Ysgard, the plane of nice people who like to fight for the awesomeness of the fight?

I mean, "bullies who take whatever they can" is Gehenna.

Arguably Acheron.

[Beelzebub1111]

Why is a faction of greedy bullies associated with Ysgard, the plane of nice people who like to fight for the awesomeness of the fight?

I mean, "bullies who take whatever they can" is Gehenna.

Arguably Acheron.

Because they aren't? The common takeaway is that they are greedy bullies, but they basically are the people that keep sigil running. They collect taxes and pay to keep the roads cobbled and cisterns flowing. It ain't a charity but the job gets done and the wheels get greased.

Their factol is also a chaotic good priest of Thor, so that may have something to do with it.

Whose to say they aren't full of contradictions anyway, they're libertarian tax collectors after all.

[Brookshw]

Because they aren't? The common takeaway is that they are greedy bullies, but they basically are the people that keep sigil running. They collect taxes and pay to keep the roads cobbled and cisterns flowing. It ain't a charity but the job gets done and the wheels get greased.

Their factol is also a chaotic good priest of Thor, so that may have something to do with it.

Whose to say they aren't full of contradictions anyway, they're libertarian tax collectors after all.

Ehhh, unless WoTC is changing things the Dabus are the department of public works, and they report solely to the lady.

[Beelzebub1111]

Ehhh, unless WoTC is changing things the Dabus are the department of public works, and they report solely to the lady.
Not reliably. The Dabus fix things but only on their own schedule and time and with their own incomprehensible priorities. There are also the other aspects of governance filled with people who need to be paid to do their jobs. All the other factions have their own duties that they need to get paid for and it's the taker's coffers that pay them.

[Lavaeolus]

In terms of faction renames and changes:

The Dustmen are now Heralds of Dust.
The Believers of the Source and Sign of One merged into the Mind's Eye. They're nicknamed "the Seekers".
The Free League, Xaositects and Revolutionary League are no longer major factions. The Hands of Havoc are a faction of freedom fighters and anarchists that are aligned with Limbo, and feel like a bit of a mix of the latter two.

Also of note: there are no longer 15 set factions. The twelve mentioned are the most influential and known as "the ascendant factions", but there are other minor factions and the distinction between the two types isn't set of stone. The post mentions the possibility of factions falling or the players founding their own group.

The ascendant factions are not immutable. Over time, their ideologies may become dated or scandal may chase out members. Should your party of adventurers seek to grow their power in the City of Doors, they may seek to establish a new faction.

[Cygnia]

Was always a fan of the Society of Sensation. I'm just dreading that they'll bring another wave of bad GMs and players who equate that faction only with constant sex (consent optional) :smallfrown:

[Millstone85]

Any word on how the factions integrate mechanically?So far, it looks like they just don't.

Player options are showcased here (https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1580-preview-planescape-character-options-for-your) and in this video (https://youtu.be/Ho2Yg0zTDDs). Besides new spells and magic items, there are two (nearly identical) backgrounds.

Gate Warden:

proficiency in Persuasion and Survival
two languages of your choice
Scion of the Outer Planes feat

Planar Philosopher:

proficiency in Arcana and a skill of your choice
two languages of your choice
Scion of the Outer Planes feat

The feat mentioned in both gives resistance to a type of damage, teaches a cantrip and makes you qualify for another feat, with the specifics depending on your initial choice of planar influence.




resistance
cantrip
feat access


Chaotic Outer Plane
poison
minor illusion
Cohort of Chaos
"like a mini wild surge"


Evil Outer Plane
necrotic
chill touch
Baleful Scion
"sap their vitality for yourself"


Good Outer Plane
radiant
sacred flame
Righteous Heritor
"lessen the harm [others] take"


Lawful Outer Plane
force
guidance
Agent of Order
"lock your foes into a stasis"


The Outlands
psychic
mage hand
Outlands Envoy
"makes communicating easier"


There is also a feat called Planar Wanderer that lets you open portals without a key. I couldn't understand whether it is its own thing or is part of the feat tree.


Why is a faction of greedy bullies associated with Ysgard, the plane of nice people who like to fight for the awesomeness of the fight?Conversely, why is a faction of no-greater-plan healers associated with the plane of mean people who were abandoned to maddening windy caves? Actually, I can sort of see the connection here, in that perhaps the Bleak Cabal wants to bring comfort even to the souls of Pandemonium.

[Brookshw]

Not reliably. The Dabus fix things but only on their own schedule and time and with their own incomprehensible priorities. There are also the other aspects of governance filled with people who need to be paid to do their jobs. All the other factions have their own duties that they need to get paid for and it's the taker's coffers that pay them.

Oh, sure, no comment on the reliable part, just that explicitly the Dabus handle a lot of the infrastructure stuff like building streets etc., comically they pave them in accordance with the districts (rich areas get good cobbles, poor get mud). Waters another question, no one really knows where it comes from and there aren't any sewers. Factions and people definitely can still do extra on top of the Dabus work.

[Pex]

I played a 2E Planescape campaign once. That DM was one of my many 2E DMs who contributed to my learnings of bad tyrannical DMing I now gripe about*, which unfortunately puts a sad face on Planescape for me. I'm willing to give it another chance with a DM who is actually good at DMing. However, as a personal opinion on the matter, I played a Lawful Good fighter in that campaign and when going over the factions I found not one of them was worthy of me joining. Not one followed a Lawful Good moral code. I chose the Guvners as they were the least objectionable, but even joining was horrible at least as the DM made it where I had to bribe my way in. Most distasteful for my character.



*His main flaw was dismissing player concerns. I tell him I'm not enjoying the game for reasons, but he dismissed me as a whiny baby. There are other issues of incidents, but that was my major gripe.

[Kane0]

Its nice they leave the option open for factions to change, the last planescape gane i was in i would have really liked making my own faction

[Unoriginal]

Because they aren't? The common takeaway is that they are greedy bullies, but they basically are the people that keep sigil running. They collect taxes and pay to keep the roads cobbled and cisterns flowing. It ain't a charity but the job gets done and the wheels get greased.

I don't see the connection between that and the plane of chaotically-fighting-each-others-all-in-good-fun either.

Even if their boss worship Thor, it's not enough to align the whole faction with a plane.

[Millstone85]

I played a Lawful Good fighter in that campaign and when going over the factions I found not one of them was worthy of me joining. Not one followed a Lawful Good moral code.Based on the short descriptions, one would expect the Harmonium to fit the bill. But I have to assume they are actually a disappointing bunch of lawful stupid paladins.

[Polyphemus]

Based on the short descriptions, one would expect the Harmonium to fit the bill. But I have to assume they are actually a disappointing bunch of lawful stupid paladins.

You’d be quite right! Depressingly right, even.
As I recall, back in the day the Harmonium started as a (nominally) Lawful Good group on a Prime Material world, and decided that for peace and harmony to thrive throughout the multiverse, everyone would have to be Lawful Good, and put anyone who didn’t convert to their way of thinking to the sword. Yes, including the Neutral Good and Chaotic Good people. And that was before they got to Sigil and became the police there.

If my memory is correct, the Harmonium does things like jailing people for not being in the Harmonium, some officers even committing some extrajudicial murders. And then those get nothing more from a slap on the wrist from their Factol, a (supposedly) Lawful Good Paladin. Despite this being in the edition where a Paladin doing any kind of evil act is almost certainly going to be stripped of his powers, as far as I know, he never was.

The Harmonium was so abjectly terrible at maintaining the “Good” portion of Lawful Good that their headquarters in the Lawful Neutral/Lawful Good plane of Arcadia was forcibly dragged into the solidly Lawful Neutral plane of Mechanus from the sheer combined not-Good vibes radiating off their faction’s membership. This was considered a major embarrassment for the faction, but seemingly lead to no self-reflection or change in behavior in either its leadership or wider membership, as far as I know, anyways.

Honestly the Harmonium kind of smacks of someone on the writing team of the time wanting to “prove” that Lawful Good as an alignment was all merely empty, sanctimonious posturing. Which to me, in retrospect, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for the setting where alignment should actually matter way more concretely than any other setting, and not just be some cheap, empty concept we vaguely gesture at? You’d think their HQ falling into Mechanus would be an objective sign to all involved they need to dramatically change their ways, but…?

Say what you will about the Mercykillers, they’re at least true to their intentions: Kill mercy, so what they consider a harsh-but-fair Justice can be done. By comparison the Harmonium comes off as a faction of smug phonies.

But, admittedly, that’s all based on how they were back in the day. Will that carry over into their 5e incarnation? I dunno! Guess we’ll see.

[Eldan]

I'd say one should keep in mind that all factions are made up of individuals and they don't all have the exact same ideas.

The Harmonium isn't "lawful stupid", I'd say. Summoning up their faction theme, I'd say it's "they tried their best and were too ambitious".

The Harmonium's backstory is that they are an actually successful Paladin order. They mostly erradicated evil on their home plane and made a pretty good go at controlling chaos, too. Then they found out that the planes exist (their home plane was apparently more insulated than normal) and their leadership decided that they need to go destroy the Abyss. So they sent all the armies of their homeworld into the Abyss and actually made a dent into the Plane of Portals for a while, before being horribly wiped out.

Then, they figured out the entire "faith changes the planes" thing, so their new mission is to make everyone lawful good. With some questionable methods. Their big project was re-education camps (which the books leave open to the DM if they were as horrible as that sounds or rather mild), where they took criminals from Sigil and moved them to Arcadia for some fresh air and singing hymns, because surely, being under supervision on a lawful good plane would turn them lawful good.

They instead managed to destroy an entire layer of Arcadia, because they brought too many nongood people there.

From the descriptions in the old books, Harmonium members have the entire range of lawful neutral/lawful good types. Stubborn paragraph humpers and lawful stupid paladins, but also grizzled old military vets, young idealists, etc.

Most factions as written have 2-3 subfactions between them, sometimes with very different ideas, but always with very different goals and methods.

[Polyphemus]

I'd say one should keep in mind that all factions are made up of individuals and they don't all have the exact same ideas.

The Harmonium isn't "lawful stupid", I'd say. Summoning up their faction theme, I'd say it's "they tried their best and were too ambitious".


Y’know, that’s a fair read as well, I might be showing my own rather cynical biases, here.
Certainly if nothing else I hear the Harmonium are very good at getting new, starry-eyed, true-believing, truly Lawful Good types to sign on, with their stated bottom line of “the greatest Good for the greatest number of people.” Statistically speaking they can’t all become jaded or corrupt by the Harmonium’s more questionable practices.


They instead managed to destroy an entire layer of Arcadia, because they brought too many nongood people there.

Ah, is that how it happened? I should’ve double-check my sources, then, my bad.
Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the “the Harmonium as a faction is so just bad at being Good it dragged their layer of Arcadia down” story is in-universe rumor/propaganda spread by the other factions to rag on the Harmonium. Since “ragging on the Harmonium” is a favored pastime of many a Sigilite. ;P

[Unoriginal]

Y’know, that’s a fair read as well, I might be showing my own rather cynical biases, here.
Certainly if nothing else I hear the Harmonium are very good at getting new, starry-eyed, true-believing, truly Lawful Good types to sign on, with their stated bottom line of “the greatest Good for the greatest number of people.” Statistically speaking they can’t all become jaded or corrupt by the Harmonium’s more questionable practices.



Ah, is that how it happened? I should’ve double-check my sources, then, my bad.
Though I wouldn’t be surprised if the “the Harmonium as a faction is so just bad at being Good it dragged their layer of Arcadia down” story is in-universe rumor/propaganda spread by the other factions to rag on the Harmonium. Since “ragging on the Harmonium” is a favored pastime of many a Sigilite. ;P

I mean either way it's the Harmonium being so bad at being good that made the layer leave Arcadia .

It's not like they were good people who just invited not-good people over to talk and got overwhelmed, they were not-good people who thought you could use the plane as a prison where the only hope to leave was agreeing with them.

[Pex]

Based on the short descriptions, one would expect the Harmonium to fit the bill. But I have to assume they are actually a disappointing bunch of lawful stupid paladins.

In 2E at the time they were bullies and the stereotypical corrupt police image. I did consider them anyway. The Guvners were corrupt judges. I don't remember the description details, but the Harmonium had one or two more objections than Guvners which is why I chose Guvners.

[Keravath]

Interesting, it may be just me, but after reading over the faction lore listed, I really have no desire to play or run Planescape.

The setting, a city with doors to many of the planes of existence, a multiversal cross-roads for trade, exploration, interaction between various groups that inhabit various planes and worlds ... all potentially really interesting depending on the game I am running.

However, most of the factions listed just don't seem to make any sense in a fantasy universe where many of the tenets held by the factions would appear to be simply not true.

- don't believe in gods or that gods are frauds? Then where do clerics get their powers and what happens when one of these gods walks up and says Hi? Gods are a part of the D&D multiverse at such a fundamental level that hating gods would be fine but not believing in them is ludicrous.
- a faction that thinks everyone is dead already?
- a faction that likes to do stuff without thinking about it first
- a faction that likes to kill people though maybe only those they decide deserve it ... or maybe not
- a faction of dictators with their own personal armies?

Every faction has a motto to represent them that is "over the top" in my opinion. I don't think any of the factions listed could create a functional society because they are either too exaggerated or simply out of touch.

All of which, from my perspective, makes the "lore" almost useless for running a game (unless I want to just run a fun/silly over the top sort of game that doesn't have any requirement to make sense).

Anyway, just my perspective, I am sure lots of folks like the setting.

P.S. I did play Planescape:Torment though I never finished it and what might make sense in the context of a video game doesn't really make that much sense to me in the context of a TTRPG.

[Millstone85]

Maybe WotC's presentation of the factions here is poor but...

On the Athar

don't believe in gods or that gods are frauds? Then where do clerics get their powers and what happens when one of these gods walks up and says Hi? Gods are a part of the D&D multiverse at such a fundamental level that hating gods would be fine but not believing in them is ludicrous.It is also true to the D&D multiverse that:

The gods weaken and die if their followers abandon them. The Astral is full of giant petrified corpses that used to be gods but are now fancy islands for the githyanki and other travellers of the silver sea.
Some clerics obtain their powers by devoting themselves to impersonal philosophies. IIRC the Athar themselves constitute such a faith and count numerous "divine" spellcasters in their ranks.
There is at least one place, Sigil, where no god can show up and say anything. All the portals of the city are closed to them.

It makes sense that characters would denounce all gods as unnecessary intermediaries between mortals and the power of collective belief, also calling them frauds, parasites and other such names.

So yes, while the faction's name is based on the word "atheist", they are actually dystheists or whatever the correct term is for god haters.

On the Heralds of Dust

a faction that thinks everyone is dead already?Yeah, it is a very strange way to put it, but I think the idea with the Dustmen Dusters is that, having witnessed life, undeath, the afterlives and maybe also reincarnation, they are dissatisfied with all and hope to find another great beyond that would finally offer a meaningful existence.

On the Transcendent Order

a faction that likes to do stuff without thinking about it firstI don't know the Transcendent Order but I am guessing it is like "listen not to monkey brain, leave self behind, find true will of the soul, do awesome martial arts" or something.

On the Mercykillers

a faction that likes to kill people though maybe only those they decide deserve it ... or maybe notThe Mercykillers' name is a play on words. They don't mercy kill, they kill mercy within themselves so they can be more effective law enforcers.

On ?????

a faction of dictators with their own personal armies?"Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down?"

[Lavaeolus]

- don't believe in gods or that gods are frauds? Then where do clerics get their powers and what happens when one of these gods walks up and says Hi? Gods are a part of the D&D multiverse at such a fundamental level that hating gods would be fine but not believing in them is ludicrous.


The Athar don't believe the gods literally aren't real, generally speaking. They believe they're "frauds" in the sense that they're just powerful planar beings unworthy of worship. As they would no doubt cherish to point out, Athar can still become Clerics and channel divine power; a lot of them believe in a mysterious and unseen "Great Unknown" beyond the existing gods. What they can't be, of course, is a Cleric of a specific deity like Thor or Lolth.

So I don't think, on the surface level, the Athar's beliefs are too unreasonable. But I do think they suffer in that, rather than having their own consistent argument for the multiverse's purpose, they frequently position themselves as standing against a particularly ideology... in a campaign setting where the gods and their role aren't really in focus. They're off trying to disrupt local religions and churches in an argument that I'm not sure any of the other big factions care about.

[Unoriginal]

So yes, while the faction's name is based on the word "atheist", they are actually dystheists or whatever the correct term is for god haters.

Misotheists



On the Heralds of Dust
Yeah, it is a very strange way to put it, but I think the idea with the Dustmen Dusters is that, having witnessed life, undeath, the afterlives and maybe also reincarnation, they are dissatisfied with all and hope to find another great beyond that would finally offer a meaningful existence."

It's worth noting that anyone living in Sigil is quite literally living in an afterlife (since Sigil is in the Outlands).

It wouldn't be surprising (though it is likely rare) to see someone who's neutral die in Sigil and just continue as they were doing, maybe after a brief Astral trip.

[Millstone85]

The Athar don't believe the gods literally aren't real, generally speaking. They believe they're "frauds" in the sense that they're just powerful planar beings unworthy of worship.That too. There are people in the D&D multiverse who worship beholders, dragons, elementals, etc. Does one become a true god just because they start converting that faith into magical power? The typical D&D answer is yes, that's what defines a god. But characters in-universe could find that distinction rather arbitrary and also come up with alternative terms for faith eaters. Past Planescape has called them "Powers". 4e FR had the seldom used but pretty neat name of "Estelar".


MisotheistsThank you.


It's worth noting that anyone living in Sigil is quite literally living in an afterlife (since Sigil is in the Outlands).

It wouldn't be surprising (though it is likely rare) to see someone who's neutral die in Sigil and just continue as they were doing, maybe after a brief Astral trip.Is that right, does Sigil count as being part of the Outlands for neutral petitioners?

[Unoriginal]

That too. There are people in the D&D multiverse who worship beholders, dragons, elementals, etc. Does one become a true god just because they start converting that faith into magical power? The typical D&D answer is yes, that's what defines a god. But characters in-universe could find that distinction rather arbitrary and also come up with alternative terms for faith eaters. Past Planescape has called them "Powers".

In 5e, being a god means a) you can convert worship into power b) you can empower Clerics c) you are impossible to kill outside of total worshiper loss or being killed by an entity or artifact with its own divine spark (and even then coming back is still possible).

Plenty of other beings are worshiped, though, true, and it's likely that an Athar member would argue that the being gaining power from worship does not mean that you should give them worship.



Thank you.

No probs.



Is that right, does Sigil count as being part of the Outlands for neutral petitioners?

I think so, though I admit I don't find any definitive statement either way.

In any case, someone could live in one of the Outlands' gate-towns for all their lives, die and just keep being there for sure. And I think Sigil does treat the Outlands as kind of like its countryside (or at least a neighbor country they're still tied to historically).

[Brookshw]

Is that right, does Sigil count as being part of the Outlands for neutral petitioners?

I don't think so, it's visible from the outlands but it's also noted that no one knows where it really is. Whereas most planes have entries talking about petitioners and what they do, the Outlands make no reference to petitioners in Sigil, nor do any of the books on sigil talk about petitioners. I think it's safe to conclude there are no petitioners headed to Sigil.

[Eldan]

- don't believe in gods or that gods are frauds? Then where do clerics get their powers and what happens when one of these gods walks up and says Hi? Gods are a part of the D&D multiverse at such a fundamental level that hating gods would be fine but not believing in them is ludicrous.


The argument from many of them is more that "the beings presented to us as gods don't deserve worship". As with all Factions, there's a lot of subgroups between them. The more reasonable ones would argue along the lines of "what's the difference between a powerful wizard and a "god" anyway?". Others argue that the gods we see are a kind of elaborate scam. The gods are not all-powerful, and they aren't even as powerful as they pretend to be. That's mostly facade. Gods die all the time. Some are killed by mortals. And what power they have comes from mortal belief, not from the Gods themselves. Meaning that mortals can redirect their belief to some other locus, meaning the gods are not necessary to the whole system, they are just using it.



- a faction that thinks everyone is dead already?


This one is difficult to talk about on this forum due to real world religion reasons. But essentially, it's rather that the Dustmen think or used to think that this Universe we exist in is not fundamentally a good thing. We currently exist in a state of suffering which is brought about by attachment to a false reality. (And we know it is false, because we can change it through belief). Hence they believe that by shedding attachment to reality, and especially emotion, they can bring their true souls closer to a true state of being which transcends this multiverse, a state of rest and almost-nonexistence.

And they witness death, afterlife and reincarnation every day and see that it doesn't fundamentally lead to anything. That only reinforces the idea.



On the Transcendent Order
I don't know the Transcendent Order but I am guessing it is like "listen not to monkey brain, leave self behind, find true will of the soul, do awesome martial arts" or something.


Another one really hard for me to talk about without referencing real world religion. Let's just say "Be like water" and leave it at that.

[Millstone85]

Here and there on the net, I have seen people discuss Sigil vs Ravnica.

So just for fun, I took my favorite illustration of Ravnica's guilds and tried replacing them with Sigil's factions.

https://i.imgur.com/Td1g1uWl.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/Td1g1uW.jpg)https://i.imgur.com/GWxC0YIl.jpg (https://i.imgur.com/GWxC0YI.jpg)
It is obviously imperfect, starting with how I had to leave two factions out.

Deciding on green/white was the most difficult. I eventually went with the idea that, since 5e's default approach to druids and paladins is to make them divine spellcasters yet independent from the gods, the Athar might now be especially fond of these classes.