Many rebellious groups operating in the North and around Faerûn don’t bound themselves by the laws. These groups or factions are known to act on their own with no regard for other institutes be it political or otherwise as long as their agenda is being served. These organizations or factions use all kinds of people that get the job done. But every faction has some people who are superior and act as the heads of factions, making the actual decisions.
What is a Faction Agent in DND?
The factions employ a lot of people that perform different jobs be it Smuggling, sells-wording, cache-holding, haven keeping, and message drop minding amongst many others.
You worked as an agent of a single group in Faerûn as a starting point to your adventures in the future. Depending on the type of faction that you worked with and their agendas, and also the way they operated compared to your own, you may have acted publicly or privately in the past. Now that you decided to move on to start your journey as an adventurer, you can decide to leave the faction if you want to.
Your Skills: You have Insight and you can choose one other from Intelligence, Charisma, or Wisdom (According to your Faction).
Your Tools: None.
Languages: You can choose to have any two languages of your choice.
Equipment: You have a set of common clothes and a badge that symbolizes your faction. You also have a copy of the seminal faction code and a pouch filled with 15GP.
Suggested Characteristics
Personality Traits
| D8 | Personality Traits |
| 1 | I idolize a particular hero from my faction and constantly refer to that person’s deeds and example. |
| 2 | I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies; I empathize with them to work towards peace. |
| 3 | I believe if everyone shared the beliefs of my faction the world would be a better place. |
| 4 | Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude. |
| 5 | I quote (or misquote) faction beliefs in almost every situation. |
| 6 | I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other factions and respect (or condemn) the ideals of other organizations. |
| 7 | I have been on missions alongside faction leaders. Being in the company of Initiates is exhausting. |
| 8 | I have spent so long at headquarters that I have little practical experience dealing with people who lack faction training. |
Ideals
| D6 | Ideals |
| 1 | Tradition. The principles of my faction must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful) |
| 2 | Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good) |
| 3 | Change. We must help bring about the changes our faction is striving towards so that we can change the world. (Chaotic) |
| 4 | Power. I strive to one day rise to the top of my faction’s rank. (Lawful) |
| 5 | Faith. I trust that my faction will aid me in times of need. If I work hard, things will go well. (Lawful) |
| 6 | Aspiration. I seek to prove myself a capable member of my faction by mirroring my actions to faction ideals. (Any) |
Bonds
| D6 | Bonds |
| 1 | I would die to recover influential relics that would aid my faction towards our goals. |
| 2 | I will someday get revenge on the corrupt faction Mentor who branded me a traitor. |
| 3 | I owe my life to a faction Stalwart who took me in when my parents died. |
| 4 | Everything I do is for the common people. |
| 5 | I will do anything to protect the faction I represent. |
| 6 | I seek to clear the name of an undercover agent who has been wrongfully declared a turncoat. |
Flaws
| D6 | Flaws |
| 1 | I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely. |
| 2 | I put too much trust in those who wield power within my faction’s rank, especially the Leaders. |
| 3 | My conviction sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that support and praise my faction. |
| 4 | I am inflexible in my thinking. |
| 5 | I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them. |
| 6 | Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life. |
Variants
Acolyte (PHB)
Faction Agent can be thought of as an Acolyte, the only difference being the Acolyte follow a particular “faith” and the faction agent follows a “Faction”. Now the Acolyte can be used to define the basis of faction agent background to determine the traits and motivations.
Now just like the Acolyte is loyal to its faith, you have a personal bond with your faction or faction members or even something that is of importance to your faction, that is where your loyalty lies.
Features
Factions of the Swords Coast
The reason why there are so many secret societies that are working on their own along the Sword Coast is most likely due to the absence of strong and unified governments. Now if you have ever worked for any of the big factions in these areas along the Sword Coast chances are you were given one of these responsibilities.
The Harpers
The Harpers are a powerful shadow organization that is working to eradicate evil using their knowledge rather than manpower. Despite the fact that they were established more than a millennium ago, they still happen to have a great deal of power. The agents of this faction are also skilled in the investigation, allowing them to snoop and spy with ease. They also seek assistance from other Harpers, sympathetic bards and innkeepers, rangers, and gods’ clergy who share their beliefs.
The Order of the Gauntlet
The Order of the Gauntlet is considerably new but happens to closely follow Harper’s agenda. But the ways are totally different, they use soldiers to use brute force when needed to keep the peace and maintain law and order. The agents of this faction are usually religious, and when needed to reach out to the law enforcement who support the order’s values, as well as the clergy of the order’s patron gods.
The Emerald Enclave
The Emerald Enclave has the objective to uphold the natural order’s equilibrium while also fighting the powers that challenge it. The agents of this faction are experts at survival and subsistence farming. They are also naturalists who can recruit the aid of woodsmen, hunters, rangers, barbarian tribes, druid circles, and priests who serve nature’s gods.
The lord’s Alliance
The lord’s Alliance faction has members at high posts in the government and other institutes but they also have many agents that take care of their other agenda. The agents of this faction have very high knowledge of history and they can also count on the assistance of the Alliance’s members that work for the government and organizations committed to the Alliance’s values.
The Zhentarim
The Zhentarim have been more prominent in the wider community in recent years as they seek to boost their image with the general public. These factions recruit individuals that are experts in different jobs from anywhere they can for the Black Network to accomplish its aims. The Agents of the Black Network are often required to operate in secrecy and that is why they are good at skills such as deception. The agents of Zhentarim’s can reach out to ask for help from wizards, mercenaries, traders, and priesthoods.
Safe Haven
Now as a faction agent you can have access to safe places by different people who believe or are connected to your faction when you are on one of the quests. Now for you to access a safe hideout, or any other place or document, you would have to use the secrets codes provided to you by your faction.
Why Use Faction Agent?
Faction Agent is a wide community amassing different institutes with different agendas and different ways to go about achieving them. As a faction agent, you are highly trained and skilled to work your way through difficult situations and you also get help from the strong network of agents working for your faction in different institutes, even in the government.
You get to have access to many places, documents and even seek safe hideout when you are on your quests. The wide range of choices in skills and features makes this background so powerful and fun to play.
