Players starting their own faction in Waterdeep

Question

I'm running Dragon Heist and introduced the players to the faction choices last night. They decided none of them wanted to join a faction, individually or together, but they did want to start their own faction as a group.

Has anyone else experienced doing this and can you offer any advice or information, please? I was thinking I might be able to use Strongholds and Followers later and it could be a lot of fun.

There are 6 players, level 3, none evil: bard, barbarian, cleric, rogue, wizard and druid.

Answer 1

A party is not a faction

The known player factions are organizations that have risen, been shattered, and risen again several times. Their longevity and resilience are largely due to their grassroots, secretive nature, and the near-autonomy of many of its members.

For real world equivalents of factions you need to think big: the mafia, the International Red Cross, the five eyes intelligence agencies, FIFA, and the belt and road initiative could all be considered factions. Five guys running an exploration and salvage business aren’t.

Now, the creation of a faction could make for the basis of an ongoing and even multi-generational campaign. But, in a reverse duck test, calling something a faction doesn’t make it one.