FACTION TRACKING

You can use a campaign sheet to track multiple factions, the relationships between them, and their distinguishing assets, problems, or objectives, as well as their major assets and problems.

RELATIONSHIPS

The relationship between two factions is designated by a number between −3 and +3:

  • −3: Nemeses
  • −2: Opposed
  • −1: Unfriendly
  • 0: Neutral, Ambiguous, or Ambivalent
  • +1: Friendly
  • +2: Allied
  • +3: Close Allies

The more intense their relationship, the more willing one faction is to act on behalf of or against the other, even at risk to itself. A Friendly (+1) faction might render help if it doesn’t require much effort or risk, whereas a faction will go to great effort and expense to see its Nemeses (−3) suffer.

FACTION CARDS

Each Faction Card contains the following information:

  • Name: What the faction is called
  • Relationships: The faction’s relationship rank with other factions
  • Assets: 1–3 advantages the faction has, such as a large military or access to superior technology
  • Problems: 1–3 disadvantages the faction has, such as a small territory or negative reputation
  • Major Objectives: 1–3 goals the faction would expend significant resources to achieve, such as establishing a new trade route
  • Minor Objectives: 1–3 less critical goals the faction would like to achieve, such as mounting a festival or implementing a civic project

OBJECTIVE COUNTDOWNS

You can use long-term countdowns to track a faction’s efforts to exploit their assets, address their problems, and pursue their major and minor objectives. Each in-game week, pick one countdown for each faction to advance (stepping down the countdown by one tick) as it makes progress toward its goal. These countdowns can also tick up (or down extra steps) according to the fiction. When a countdown triggers, the relevant faction acquires an asset, removes a problem, or achieves some other objective. Pick a new goal based on the fiction and start a new countdown.

Each nation can have no more than one major objective countdown and up to two minor objective countdowns active at the same time. Achieving a major objective requires the faction to complete an Objective Countdown (10), whereas achieving a minor objective requires the faction to complete an Objective Countdown (4–6), depending on the scale of the endeavor.

Stagger the progression of your factions’ objective countdowns so that no more than one or two trigger each in-game week. Triggering multiple objective countdowns at the same time can cause weeks of inactivity afterward and lessen the tension of the various lingering conflicts. The party may often be dispatched or mobilized to complete or block these objectives. Meanwhile, completed countdowns generate major narrative shifts for the party to respond to.