Internal tensions within a faction
A little while ago I came across this blog post by Johnn Four, which got me thinking again about one of my favorite topics: how to build internal tensions with a faction. I like how this tension gives the faction more texture and offers several potential points of leverage for the players. One of my favorite adventures from Mike Shea's Ruins of the Grendleroot, A Fistful of Copper, confronts the PCs with two rival groups intent on attacking their base - but the internal conflict within each faction gives the players a number of ways to disrupt each group or set them against each other. Because I want to do this more in my own game, I decided to write up some general frameworks for different kinds of internal tensions. Note that these are not mutually exclusive - a faction might have a few of these going on at once.
Types of Internal Conflict
Leadership Challenge: Someone within the faction (either at the top, or from the bottom) wants to replace the leader.
- Return to Competence - the Leader has some kind of flaw that is keeping them from being effective, and the Lieutenant resents that; wants to replace the leader to make the faction more functional.
- Ambitious Lieutenant - this is the Starscream, a lieutenant that is arrogant enough that they should be in charge; either because they think they can do a better job, or just from narcisism.
- Dissension in the Ranks - this is a rumbling mutiny from below; either because the leader(s) have become decadent and distracted, because of cruelty towards the grunts, and/or a string of failures that have weakened their legitimacy.
A Powerful Wildcard: There is a powerful entity within faction that is doing their own thing. They are going along with the leader for now, but circumstances might change that.
- The Mercenary - this person is just in it for the material gains, and likely could care less about the faction's overall goals. So if a better deal comes along, they might just flip.
- The Dragon - this person may have some alignment with the factions goals (or at least its means), but they very much have their own plans and so when the opportunity arises to pursue them they will break with the faction.
A Matter of Degree: There are two groups within that are largely aimed in the same direction, but one wants to go farther than the other.
- The What - the disagreement is about the end goals. One group has more modest goals, while the other has more ambitious/radical goals. Do we just want to overthrow the tyrant, or do we want to completely upend the political order?
- The How - the disagreement is about means. It could be that one group has some major lines they done want to cross, while the other is more ruthless (e.g. do we work within the system, or do we resort to violence). Or it could be a matter of risk aversion - one group is more cautious, the other more willing to roll the dice.
A Matter of Priority: This internal conflict is about the the direction and focus of the faction.
- Competing Values - sometimes it can be helpful to think of factions as embodying a collection of values, so this tension is about which value gets top priority (e.g. the classic freedom vs security tension). Thinking about Magic the Gathering's color philosophy as a way to represent the faction's values can also capture this - if you have a Blue-White faction (order and perfection) one group within the faction might want to prioritize one color's goals over the other.
- What Dear Leader Intended - related to the above, this is about different groups within factions trying to grab onto different pieces of what a deceased faction founder represented, potentially twisting their legacy to better represent their goals.
The Personal Feud: Not all tension needs to be principled or ideological. Sometimes it is just people holding on to some petty grudge or insult from years ago. Someone didn't pay you respect. They rose through the ranks too quickly. They embarrassed you in public. They're not part of your clique. Some people are willing to do a lot to undermine someone they just don't like - even if it hurts the overall group.
When and how to add these tensions
If you are prepping the next adventure arc and you know a faction is going to be a major antagonist (or ally), then you can think about seeding the faction with internal tension as you are building them out. However, it is not always necessary to build it in from the start - and not overdoing it for every group in your setting can help avoid world builder's syndrome where you're always adding extra layers of detail but never running. You can always start with just the basics, and then add tensions to a faction when they become more important to your game. But when you're developing that big picture of the faction (e.g. what their primary goals are, what their resources are, and the leader) it may be helpful for that later development of tension if the faction feature has two or three different elements (rather than just one big element) so that you have some fertile ground to add tension later. For the faction's values: perhaps this faction is about both strength and cleverness. Or for resources - maybe there is a group of assassins and a shaman and their apprentices. Then when you're ready to add tension you have a few different threads to tug on.