Summary
RPGsoften have the player become embroiled in many conflicts, usually taking one side or the other, but sometimes taking a third option and getting a totally different outcome. Many RPGs contain expansivefaction systemswhich allow the player to become involved in events both large and small.
While some RPGs allow the player to join factions and progress quite far through their ranks, even becoming the faction leader, others take a more distant approach and keep the player at arm’s length. Many RPGs contain factions of some kind as, they’re popular with players and offer good ways to shape the narrative. Here are a coillection of RPGs with the best faction systems.
Pick A Team and Stick To It
Age of Decadence
The Age of Decadence is an experiment, an attempt to explore a different direction, taking you back to the PnP roots of the genre. It doesn’t mean that the game is awesome. In fact, there is a good chance that you won’t like it, precisely because we took too many liberties with the established design.Traditionally, many fantasy RPGs are about killing things, clearing up dungeons, and being a hero. There is nothing wrong with mindless fun and wish fulfillment, but we want to offer you something different. To quote Tom Chick (Quarter to Three’s game critic):“But Age of Decadence wants nothing to do with kobolds, just as it wants nothing to do with Doo-dads of Unimaginable Power. The overarching idea is a crumbling society divided among three noble Houses, each fumbling around in its own version of darkness to comprehend what destroyed the world. That’s the central mystery. It plays out like noir in that you are the detective, piecing together what really happened from differing accounts, all vividly written with clear voices and efficient prose. And like a detective in a noir yarn, you may’t help but become part of the central mystery, effecting an outcome you might not have intended.“The Age of Decadence is not a game about killing monsters or exploring mystical lands, but rather, surviving amid the greed and brutality of your fellow humans and carving out a name for yourself. Good and bad are purely relative. It’s a world of scheming and backstabbing in which your words and actions have the potential to forge alliances and sow discord, and your path is never certain.You get to play with seven different factions: three Noble Houses and four ‘professional’ guilds: merchants, assassins, thieves, and the army, all fighting for power or influence; over 100 named characters, over 750 ‘generic’ characters with unique IDs taking part in violent take-overs, assassinations, and power grabs, and over 600,000 words of dialogue: a well-developed and thought through world, believable characters, realistic motivations, but no elves, dwarves, magic, and wizards in fashionable, pointy hats.Another design aspect worth mentioning is combat difficulty. It’s a hard game.Combat difficulty is integrated into the setting. You can’t say that the world is harsh and unforgiving and then let the player kill everyone who looks at him or her funny. The game has to be hard, dying should be easy, and you should have reasons to pick your fights.You aren’t a powerful hero who can defeat anyone and save the world and it is the difficulty that reinforces this notion. Make the game easier and we’re back to the powerful hero setup. So unless you’re a natural born killer, watch what you say and think before you act or you’ll end up dead before you can blink.Choices are what the game is all about - crafting your own narrative via a variety of choices that alter the story, playing field, and your options down the road. From multiple quest solutions to branching questlines you’ll have plenty decisions to make and consequences of said decisions to deal with, which is what makes the game incredibly replayable.Starting the game as a mercenary and joining the Imperial Guards will give a completely different experience, different quests, different content and points of view than, say, playing the game as a merchant (less buying low and selling high, more scheming and plotting to gain advantages for the guild), a praetor serving a Noble House, or an assassin.The questlines are interwoven, forming a large, overarching story, so playing the game only once will be like witnessing events from a single perspective, which is limited by default. You will have to play the game several times to better understand what’s going on, piece everything together, and see the full effect of the choices you make.
Age of Decadenceis a grittypost-apocalypticCRPGset in a low-fantasy world many years after a brutal collapse. The faction system is a key part of the game, with players beginning as a member of one of a number of factions, all of which change their ability to interact with the game world and its various characters.
From merchants and thieves to guardsmen to scholars,Age of Decadenceoffers rich gameplay and quest lines based around the game’s many factions, so it’s always an interesting choice when it comes to deciding which faction to align with, as it will often reshape the game’s narrative.
A single player space RPG set in a faraway solar system, Obsidian’sThe Outer Worldsfeatures an array of sci-fi corporatocracies in a race to the bottom as resources dwindle and society flounders under a regime of over-exploitation and mismanagement. It a dark and often comedic take on spacefaring capitalism.
The player can make all sorts of choices when it comes to siding with factions large and small, whether that’sbecoming a corporate shilland seeking out the high life, or doing something completely unexpected. The game’s mutually exclusive options allow for multiple playthroughs that all feel different, each affected by the player’s choices, which is a nice bonus.
Set in a world facing a dark age during the collapse of a continent-spanning empire,Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlordhas a diverse offering of factions for players to join or fight against, as well as various merchant groups to start trading with.
Each of the major factions can supply different kinds of troops, and has an overall different culture and feel, making aligning with them a real strategic choice. That’s not all, since players can decide not to join any of the factions and instead carve out a new kingdom of their own.
GreedFallis an RPG set on a faraway island nation in a fantasy worldbeset by plagueand war. With six different factions, each with a unique culture, playstyle, and overall attitude to the world,GreedFallhas a lot of options for players to consider.
Many of the factions are directly involved in the exploitation of Tir Fradee, the game’s island setting, although notably, the faction of islanders isn’t. However, the conflict between factions runs even deeper, as there are big questions of faith versus rationality, magic versus science, and other ethical conflicts which give players greater room for roleplaying when it comes to their choice of faction, and the effects that choice will result in.
6ELEX
Wizards, Techno-Wizards, Or Anarchists
GothicandRisendevelopers Piranha Bytes came out withELEX, an open world RPG set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy world years after a cataclysm, in 2017. With rich worldbuilding and a great setting,ELEXoffers players the choice between three main factions, each with its own unique theme, culture, and bonuses.
Playing as part of each faction feels different, especially thanks to unique weapons, abilities, and play-styles being locked to each faction. These factions all have good involvement in the main quest, making each one play differently, adding to the overall feel of the faction system and their connection to the game world.
Evil With Perks
Tyranny
Play an RPG with meaningful, world-altering choices, unique and memorable companions, and a new perspective on morality. Tyranny casts you as the arbiter of law in a world devastated by war and conquered by a despot.In a realm where the tyrant has already won, the player must decide how to reshape the world. Strengthen the pillars of a new regime, or search for more power at the top of the new order! Will you work inside the system or try to dismantle it… and will it be for the glory of Kyros, for the good of the world, or for your own ambition?From Obsidian Entertainment, the team behind Pillars of Eternity, Fallout: New Vegas, and South Park: The Stick of Truth, Tyranny is a classic-styled RPG with a new and original story, shaped and molded by your actions. The very layout of the world will be altered by your decisions as you choose sides, make allies and enemies, and fight for your own vision of law and order in an immersive and reactive story.
Tyrannyis a unique RPG whose major conceit is that evil already won, and that’s just how the world is. Players are given the opportunity to do incredibly evil things during the course of the game in service to the world’s tyrannical emperor, as well as somewhat less evil choices, but at no time is the world presented as a nice one.
The faction system, in many ways, represents that extremely well, with players receiving positive or negative reputation with various factions depending on the choices they make in-game. With ten tracked factions, there’s a lot on offer, and faction reputation can lead to powerful bonuses and narrative consequences, making the choice of which factions to please an important one.
Factions Galore
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Pursue a rogue god over land and sea in the sequel to the multi-award-winning RPG Pillars of Eternity. Captain your ship on a dangerous voyage of discovery across the vast unexplored archipelago region of the Deadfire. Bend the world to your will, as you explore the depths of infinite possibilities, including detailed character customization, total freedom of exploration, and more meaningful choices at every turn.Immerse yourself in a deeper single player RPG game experience - enriched with cutting edge technology and features, Deadfire builds on the foundation of classic D&D gameplay with vastly improved graphics, deeper game mechanics and a whole new hand-crafted adventure where choices truly matter.Discover the new region of the Deadfire – plot your own course by ship and explore the rich and exotic islands of the archipelago region, discovering new places interacting with their inhabitants and engaging in a variety of quests at every port.Build your party and customize your companions – choose from 7 different companions to join you on your quest and assign multiple classes and deeper abilities for each. Witness their personal relationships and interactions unfold with the addition of the new companion system.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire,the sequel to Obsidian’sPillars of Eternity, comes with a richly-realized faction system. Quests are designed so that they can be completed in a variety of ways, each with its own positive and negative effects on faction reputation.
With an array of major, minor, and location-based factions,Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfireoffers a fantastic RPG faction system for players to sink their teeth into, featuring bonuses such as a magical submarine as one faction reward. Obsidian has shown good form when it comes to their faction systems, so perhaps it isn’t so surprising thatPillars of Eternity 2: Deadfiredoes it so well.
Go Your Own Way
Kenshi
A free-roaming squad based RPG focusing on open-ended sandbox gameplay features rather than a linear story. Be a trader, a thief, a rebel, a warlord, an adventurer, a farmer, a slave, or just food for the cannibals.Research new equipment and craft new gear. Purchase and upgrade your own buildings to use as safe fortified havens when things go bad, or use them to start up a business. Aid or oppose the various factions in the world while striving for the strength and wealth necessary to simply survive in the harsh desert.Train your men up from puny victims to master warriors. Carry your wounded squad mates to safety and get them all home alive.FEATURESFreeform gameplay in a seamless game worldin the largest single-player RPG world since Daggerfall, stretching over 870 square kilometers. The game will never seek to limit you or restrict your personal play style.Custom design as many characters as you wantand build up a whole squad to fight for you. Characters will grow and become stronger with experience, not just in their stats but their appearance too.Build a basewhere you can research new technologies, upgrade your defences and craft new gear.Original take on the RTS-RPG hybrid genre.No “hero” characters with artificially stroner stats than everybody else- Every character and NPC you meet is potentially an equal, and has a name, a life.You are not the chosen one.You’re not great and powerful. You don’t have more ‘hitpoints’ than everyone else. You are not the center of the universe, and you are not special. Unless you work for it.Purchase and upgrade your own buildingsto use as safe fortified havens when things go bad, or use them to start up a business.Variation and possibilities of gameplay.Be good, be evil, be a businessman, be a thief, live in a town, live in the desert, travel alone, travel in hordes, build a fortress, raze a city. Devote yourself to freeing slaves, or maybe end up a slave yourself.Dynamic, ever changing world.Support or hinder whoever you wish, or keep to yourself, the world won’t stop moving. This is not just a “game”, you are living and surviving in a simulated world.Get captured by cannibals and eaten alive, or sold off by slavers and forced to work in the mines. These are not scripted events, just a regular part of this chaotic world that ruins your life by chance. Anything can happen, yet anything can be overcome if you have the strength.Absolutely no Level-scaling.The world does not level up along with you, and the shops don’t change their inventory to only items matching your level. At the start of the game almost everyone will be stronger than you, and survival will always be a struggle. The game won’t hold your hand or help you when you’re down.Realistic medical system that affects gameplay.A character with a wounded leg will limp or crawl and slow the party down, wounded arms means you must use your sword one-handed or not at all. Severe injuries will result in amputees needing robotic limb replacements. Blood loss means you can pass out, and the blood will attract predators. A character’s stats are affected by equipment, encumbrance, blood loss, injuries and starvation.Intelligent AIthat allows for characters to reason and work towards long-term goals and desires. Squads work together and carry their wounded to safety. Characters can be setup to take care of micromanagement for you and run production in your base.Aid or oppose the various factionsin the world while striving for the strength and wealth necessary to simply survive in the harsh environment.Independently developedwith no design influences, or alterations dictated by men in gray suits who have never played a game before in their lives.Original game world.There are no fantasy-knock-off cliches. No magic.
Kenshiis a unique, almost totally structureless RPG which offers its players mountains of freedom tobuild their own narrative. This approach shines through in all aspects of the game, from its base-building system, to its quests, and even its faction system.
Although there are many factions for players to work with and around, players belong to their own faction which they can build according to their own wants and whims, and watch as it interacts with the other factions in the game world.
Developed as a spin-off game after the success ofFallout 3,Fallout: New Vegasis the only mainline, 3DFalloutgame not developed by Bethesda - it was anObsidian project. Set in the post-post-apocalyptic world of America’s Midwest,Fallout: New Vegashas numerous factions for players to become involved with, both large and small.
Some factions have only local relevance, such as the Freesiders, or the settlers at Novac, but others such as the New California Republic or Caesar’s Legion, have massive, world-spanning reach with consequences to match.New Vegasrequires players to take a side against at least one of the game’s major factions, presenting players with interesting and difficult choices.
Bethesda’s first 3D RPG set in the sprawlingElder Scrollsuniverse,Morrowindwas, in many ways, a blueprint for smash-hit games likeSkyrimandFallout 4. With a story and lore that still holds up even against modern examples, it’s no surprise thatMorrowindis still firmly a fan favorite.
Morrowindhas a rich and complex faction system filled with competing groups - and even some factions with exclusivity. The factions are responsive to player choices and allow progression through their ranks, and some choices made for one faction will influence or block progression outright in another. Some fans considerMorrowindto be the best implementation of factions in a Bethesda game, and it’s easy to see why.
