10
\$\begingroup\$

I'm playing Lost Mine of Phandelver (LMoP) with my friends. When I read the adventure, I noticed that there are multiple opportunities to join different factions.

What happens if a character has an alignment compatible to multiple factions? Can he join all of them?

I'm aware that you can gain renown only for one faction at time, and if you decide to gain renown on another faction, the one you switch from will go to 0 renown, but it doesn't look like it's harmful to just join several and then decide where to rank (or at least I haven't found anything in the rules that would prohibit this).

\$\endgroup\$
3
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ Are you playing LMoP as part of an Adventurers League home game, or just playing it without the organised play league rules? \$\endgroup\$ Nov 2, 2016 at 5:15
  • \$\begingroup\$ well, the only difference between an AL home game or any other private game is whether to use their pdf as supplement so I guess we aren't, but the multiple renown thing seems like a hack. I think the best thing to do here is to discuss this with my group and decide whether we want to adhere to AL or not on this. \$\endgroup\$
    – Ghilteras
    Nov 2, 2016 at 23:34
  • 3
    \$\begingroup\$ @Ghilteras I'd say the big difference between an AL home game vs. non-AL private game is whether the character you're playing can legally be played at another AL table. \$\endgroup\$
    – nitsua60
    Nov 5, 2016 at 2:56

2 Answers 2

23
\$\begingroup\$

Yes.

Consider the DMG at p.22, "Renown":

A player tracks renown separately for each organization his or her character is a member of. For example, an adventurer might have 5 renown within one faction and 20 renown within another.

That said, in Adventurers League it is only possible to belong to one faction at a time, and gaining renown in a second faction zeroes out renown earned in the first. See the Adventurers League Player's Guide at p.3.

\$\endgroup\$
2
\$\begingroup\$

Nothing in the rules explicitly forbids it, but keep in mind that the factions in Faerun struggle for influence. Each of them has different goals, means and spheres of power.

The following is a small spoiler for The Rise of Tiamat module.

The Rise of Tiamat adventure has a central mechanic in navigating the needs and desires of the Council of Waterdeep which consists of leaders from each faction. Faced with a very real threat of an emerging goddess, they still distrust each other and often have conflicting responses to the party's decisions. Playing to one faction will eventually lead to one or more of the others backing out even when the odds are as high as they are.

It's conceivable that joining two factions will ultimately make the character distrusted and expelled from both.

\$\endgroup\$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .