Factions and Power Struggles: Creating Political Intrigue in a West Marches Campaign
In a West Marches campaign, the world evolves based on player actions, and nowhere is that more evident than in the shifting alliances and rivalries of its factions. In the Common Grounds Guild of Greyhawk, adventurers aren’t just fighting monsters and looting dungeons—they’re navigating a living world where factions compete for power, resources, and influence.
By weaving political intrigue into your West Marches campaign, you create recurring conflicts, long-term consequences, and compelling player choices beyond simple combat. Here’s how to bring Greyhawk’s power struggles to life.
1. Establishing the Key Factions
In a sandbox campaign, factions should have clear goals, personalities, and ongoing conflicts that players can interact with. In Greyhawk, we have plenty of factions to choose from, each with its own motives and hidden agendas.
Greyhawk Factions to Feature:
- The Scarlet Brotherhood – Secretive, manipulative monks seeking to infiltrate and control powerful institutions.
- The Thieves' Guild of Greyhawk City – A criminal syndicate with spies and informants everywhere.
- The Silent Ones of Keoland – A reclusive order of wizards dedicated to hoarding magical knowledge.
- The Horned Society – A shadowy cabal of fiend-worshipers vying for dominance in the north.
- The Free City of Greyhawk Council – The ruling elite balancing trade, diplomacy, and their own personal wealth.
Example: A party discovers that a local merchant is smuggling artifacts out of an ancient ruin—but is he a simple criminal, or working under orders from the Scarlet Brotherhood?
2. Making Faction Conflicts Interactive
Factions shouldn’t just be background lore—they should react to the players’ actions. Give players multiple ways to interact with factions:
- Missions: Players can take jobs for or against a faction (escort a diplomat, steal a relic, hunt a spy).
- Reputation System: As players assist or hinder a faction, their standing with it shifts—leading to rewards, allies, or enemies.
- Moral Dilemmas: Make players choose between two competing factions, neither of which is entirely "good" or "evil."
Example: The Common Grounds Guild is hired by the Free City Council to retrieve a stolen book. However, the Silent Ones claim the book is too dangerous to be in mortal hands. Do the players return it or hand it over to the wizards?
3. Dynamic Power Shifts: The World Reacts to Player Choices
A West Marches game thrives on cause and effect. If players take action, the faction landscape should change.
- Assassinating a faction leader? A power vacuum follows, leading to infighting or a new, more dangerous leader.
- Betraying a faction? They might send bounty hunters, sabotage the players, or spread false rumors about them.
- Siding with a faction? Rivals may view the players as enemies, limiting access to resources or safe zones.
Example: Players help a rebel group overthrow a corrupt noble. A few sessions later, the rebels themselves become oppressive rulers—forcing players to reconsider their past decisions.
4. Tools and Resources for Managing Faction Intrigue
To track faction progress and keep your world consistent, use these tools:
- Obsidian Portal (www.obsidianportal.com) – Great for maintaining a campaign wiki with faction updates.
- The Greyhawk Wiki (Canonfire!) – http://www.canonfire.com – A deep dive into Greyhawk's political landscape.
- Sly Flourish’s Lazy DM’s Workbook – Contains tables for generating factions and political events dynamically.
- The Alexandrian’s "Faction-Based Play" Guide – www.thealexandrian.net – A fantastic resource for running factions in sandbox games.
Final Thoughts: A Living World of Conspiracies
By integrating factions and power struggles into the Common Grounds Guild of Greyhawk, we’re making sure the world isn’t just a backdrop—it’s an evolving, reactive entity. Players will forge alliances, make enemies, and change the political landscape, making their adventures more than just dungeon crawls.
So next time you sit down to play, ask yourself: Whose interests are your adventurers really serving?
What faction are you most excited to see in play? Drop a comment in our Discord or join us at Common Ground Games for our next Guild Day!