Worldbuilding | Fix Your Factions

Overview

Kyle (Mapro / “RPG Art Show”) teaches a worldbuilding method for “fixing your factions” by treating factions like characters with goals and consequences. He then demonstrates the process by building a complete example set of factions for a dungeon-city scenario.

Key Artistic / Worldbuilding Techniques & Creative Concepts

• Visual planning tool: Create a relationship map to track faction connections to a central adventure location.
• Factions as active agents: Treat factions as groups with shared goals that can change the world, not just background NPCs.
• Motivation-first design: Ensure each faction is motivated and capable, with clear interests.
• Scene logic framework: Use a directing-film principle (via David Mamet) so each faction “scene” answers:
  • Who wants what from whom?
  • What happens if they don’t get it?
  • Why is this happening now?
• Avoid “power as a goal”: Don’t make factions want only power/wealth/violence. Treat those as means; the real goal is the specific change they desire.
• Conflict without moral alignment: Don’t design factions as good vs evil. Build them around self-serving purposes so players can make meaningful choices.
• Emergent-play preparation: Write factions as situations (fast to adapt), not as predetermined stories—so they can respond to player actions and become problems later.

Demonstrated Example: Faction Construction (Sample Setting)

Central Location & Core Inciting Dungeon Mystery

• An ancient underground dungeon ruled by the Sentimanus elves (originally from Santa Manas).
• The dungeon’s “hunger”/threat returns due to Codus, an “elder thing” (explicitly inspired by mythological plagiarism from Greek stories), influencing the world through:
  • The Hand of Codis (a cult spreading Codus’s will)

Step-by-Step Faction Build Process

1. Pick the dungeon origin faction
   • Decide who built the dungeon, whether they’re gone or dormant, and why.
   • Example outcome: The Sentimanus elves were forced underground after a rebellion against the gods.
2. Add a supernatural power source
   • Invent/borrow an “elder thing” to justify why the threat has leverage against gods.
   • Example outcome: Codus was cast down and seeks revenge through the elves/cult.
3. Give the cult an instrument
   • The cult’s role explains how the elder thing operates in the world.
   • Example outcome: The Hand of Codis performs rituals and recruits participants.
4. Add environment-appropriate monsters (dungeon flavor)
   • Example dungeon monsters:
     • Bone spiders: undead pieces fused into spider forms.
     • Wraith keepers: chain-led undead ghosts “on patrol.”
   • Include monster desires (not just aggression):
     • Bone spiders want honorable burial.
     • Wraith keepers want contracts annulled by destroying their written pledges.
5. Define the surface-city setting and add easy factions
   • Create a city above the dungeon (wealthy agrarian metro).
   • Example outcome: Felden—windmills, river mills, a rich agricultural community.
   • Add:
     • Coin Guard (law/taxes serving landowners and farmers)
     • Thieves (criminal element; recognizable due to prosthetic hooks after losing hands to the law)
6. Connect the underground threat to the surface underclass
   • Provide a pathway for interaction (escape routes, secret passages).
   • Example outcome: An underclass sneaks into the dungeon, encounters Codus, and becomes a cult arm.
7. Add major external rivals to escalate stakes
   • Example factions:
     • Dwarves of Clan Auros (long-memory grudge; reclaim stolen clan gold)
     • Elves of Aeondel (arrive to destroy the threat, willing to risk catastrophic outcome)
8. Tie it all back to “why now”
   • Give a clear cause for the renewed incursion.
   • Example cause: The thieves dug where they shouldn’t and tried to seize power from oppressors—sparking Codus’s cult activity and rumors.

Example Factions Mentioned (By Name)

• Sentimanus elves (from Santa Manas; now dormant/underground)
• Codus (elder thing / revenge entity)
• Hand of Codis (cult)
• Bone spiders (undead fused monsters)
• Wraith keepers (mad ghosts on chains)
• Coin Guard (law/tax enforcement)
• Thieves (criminal element wearing hook prosthetics)
• Felden (the surface city)
• Dwarves of Clan Auros
• Elves of Aeondel

Creative Advice Emphasized

• Focus faction design on:
  • Goals (what they want)
  • Means (power/wealth/violence as tools)
  • Consequences (what happens if they don’t get it)
  • Timing (why this is happening now)
• Don’t overprepare: target 3 factions for early campaigns.
• Players don’t need to engage everything—factions can remain background situations that later become obstacles.

Creators / Contributors Featured

• Kyle (host/instructor; “my name is kyle”)
• David Mamet (source of the “three questions per scene” directing-film advice)
• World Anvil (sponsorship; referenced via worldanvil.com and promo code)
• John (co-host/partner mentioned for the podcast at thesplatbook.com)