Factions of Tisoria

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Over the past millennia, the city-state of Tisoria grew from a Velthirian colony into the foremost cultural and economic center in Valdoro, and one of the largest cities in the world of Amalthea. In the past two decades, the influx of Scourge refugees has further filled the city with vast numbers of people who would otherwise not find themselves here. With so many people of distinct origins, cultures, and beliefs each seeking opportunities for themselves, it's inevitable that they come in conflict. As a result, Tisoria is home to myriad factions, each with their own philosophies and their own goals, scheming and plotting to gain the upper hand within the city and beyond. The following summary should give you an idea of Tisoria's political landscape, and the major players in its conflicts.   Questing and magic item acquisition in Tisoria interact directly with its Factions. By default, a character can only craft or purchase magic items with a maximum cost of 1500GP. Completing quests for a Faction grants Favor to characters, allowing them to access more expensive items associated with that Faction.    

Factions and Favor

All quests in Amalthea must be offered by one or more Factions. Each quest grants 1 Favor with a Faction upon completion, or offer a choice of 1 Favor with one or more Factions. Longer multi-part quests can grant 2 or even 3 Favor upon completion, either with a single Faction, or spread across multiple Factions. As a rule of thumb, player characters should gain approximately 6 Favor with each level through questing alone.    

Favor and Magic Items

Favor is used to acquire magic items with a cost above 1500GP. To determine the maximum cost of magic items associated with a Faction that you can purchase, consult the following table:   For example, if you have 3 Favor with the Tisorian City Council, you can craft or purchase magical arms and armor with a maximum cost of 3000GP. When upgrading an item, whether by adding special weapons and armor abilities, or by combining it with a different item, use the total final cost to determine to determine if you have enough Favor to acquire it. When crafting an item, the maximum cost applies to the item's crafting price (80% buying price).   Faction items that are associated with classes refer to items that directly interact with features in the “Special” column of a base class table, other than casting, proficiencies, martial traditions, and bonus talents or feats. If you have a special feature of another class that isn't universally granted to your base class, you must gain Favor with the Faction corresponding to that other class for the purposes of magic item access. For example, an Incanter with Channel Energy and Sorcerer Bloodline must acquire 5 Favor with the Sybilite Church to craft or purchase a Phylactery of Positive Channeling, and 4 Favor with either the Scions of Tisoria or the Arcanarium to obtain a Robe of Arcane Heritage.   Magic items can also be purchased through regular auctions held in the city of Tisoria, as well as through questing. These means allow a player character to obtain items that surpass 31000 GP in cost.    

Universal Items

Magical Toolkits can be provided by any Faction, as long as you have enough Favor to purchase a toolkit of that cost. This also applies to similar vanilla items that only provide a static competence bonus to skills but nothing else (eg. Circlet of Persuasion).    

Negative Favor

Quests may bestow negative Favor as well, but net Favor gain should always be at least 1. For example, a quest to assassinate a magistrate on behalf of House Windrelli would grant -1 Favor with the Tisorian City Council, but +2 Favor with House Windrelli. Favor can be lost by other means as well, such as out-of-quest behavior that directly harms a Faction’s interests. However, Favor loss can’t happen without GM presence, and the activity that caused Favor loss must still grant other benefits, such as XP, wealth, or items.   Having negative Favor with a Faction has no effects on magic item acquisition, unless that Faction provides Contraband (see below). In this case, you may not purchase the Faction’s associated contraband items unless another Faction provides them. You can still craft such items with a maximum cost of 1500GP.    

Contraband Items

Some magic items are illegal in Tisoria, and may only be acquired from criminal Factions. The following types of items are considered contraband:

• Items with Evil auras, or require the crafter to have an Evil alignment to create
• Items that can mind control creatures, unless they only target animals, constructs, elementals, magical beasts, plants, or vermin
• Items that can create or summon aberrations, evil outsiders, or undead
• Items sourced directly from aberrations, evil outsiders, or undead
• Items that only or additionally harm the following subtypes: Humanoid (Beastfolk), (Dwarf), (Elf), (Gnome), (Halfling), (Human), (Orc), (Reptilian) ; Outsider (Agathion), (Angel), (Archon), (Azata), (Good), (Native)
• Wild magic items.

 

Starting Favor

At creation, a character has 3 points of Favor they may spend on any Faction. A character that begins play at a level higher than 3 gains 4 Favor for each level they have above 3, which they can freely spend on any Faction.  

Factions in Tisoria

Below is a summary of the major Factions driving the sociopolitical intrigue of the setting, and the types of quests and magic items associated with them.  

Faction Name	Membership	Favor Gain	Favor Loss	Items
Tisorian City Council	Government	Acts of heroism	Crime	Magical Arms & Armor
Scions of Tisoria	Socially conservative elves	Supporting families of old wealth	Theft, vandalism, helping foreigners and the poor	Knightly items; arcane items, especially for spell combat and support
Ember Trading Company	Capitalists, industrialists	Supporting capitalism and technological progress	Theft, industrial sabotage, helping the poor	Alchemical and technological items; consumables
Sybilite Church	Clergy of the Elder Gods	Destroying supernatural evil; acts of charity	Consorting with supernatural evil	Divine and holy items
Arcanarium	Arcane mages, scientists	Advancing arcane and scientific knowledge	Destroying knowledge or letting it fall into wrong hands	Arcane and metamagic items
House Windrelli	Mafia family, assassins	Assassinating family rivals; crime	Bringing down the law; aiding the Syndicate	Contraband, especially related to necromancy and assassination
Shrouded Syndicate	Criminal masterminds hidden behind street gangs	Selling secrets to the Syndicate; crime	Bringing down the law; aiding the Windrellis	Contraband, especially related to spying and supernatural evil
Docker’s Guild	Dockworkers, kobolds, orcs	Aiding the the working class without relying on authorities	Victimizing the working class; getting authorities involved in their business	Martial items, especially for unarmed or improvised combat; support items
Circle of the Secret Garden	Druids, beastfolk, luddites, anarcho-communists	Protecting nature and refugees; eco-terrorism	Harming nature, victimizing refugees	Primal items and items for animal companions
Cults of the Scourge	Occult mages, lunatics, goblins, undead	Worshiping Great Old Ones; ruining Tisoria from within	Destroying or locking away occult magic; aiding anyone else against them	Occult items and contraband

 

Tisorian City Council

Associated Quests: Any quest that benefits Tisoria or its citizens, including all heroic quests not associated with another Faction   Associated Items: Magical Arms and Armor, except those with illegal enchantments   Contraband? No   The first City Council of Tisoria was established 370 years ago, when the city state gained independence from the Kingdom of Velthiria and joined the Pact of Valdoro. Today, the Tisorian City Council is made up of elected officials that each represents a district of the city. The City Council oversees the economy, maintains the military, performs diplomacy, and holds legal jurisdiction in not just the city itself but also the surrounding area of roughly 100 square kilometers through the Tisorian Constabulary. Although Council membership is nominally democratic, in practice it’s quite oligarchic, as candidates rarely have a chance without the support of either the Scions of Tisoria or the Ember Trading Company. The Council is also responsible for the appointment of Tisoria’s governor, who represents the city internationally and has tiebreaking power for contentious policies. The current governor of Tisoria is a middle-aged half-elf named Cerida Lucetti, known for being staunchly and frustratingly moderate on nearly all issues, and is likely chosen as a compromise between competing Factions.    

The Scions of Tisoria

Associated Quests:

• Maintaining the prestige and privileges of old money families, especially at the expense of foreigners (except Velthirians), refugees, and the poor
• Deepening Tisoria’s alliance to Velthiria

Associated Items:

• Implements and Spell Engines, except those using illegal talents
• Items that require the Enhancement, Destruction, Protection, Time, or War Spheres to create
• Items associated with the following classes: Arcanist, Cavalier, Bard, Commander, Fighter, Mageknight, Magus, Samurai, Sentinel, Skald, Sorcerer, Wizard

Contraband? No   Descending from the old colonial nobles of Tisoria, the Scions are wealthy elves and half-elves who seek to restore the democratic city to its golden age of feudal monarchy. They believe that Tisoria was much better under Velthirian rule, when the streets were cleaner, the guards did their jobs, and the commoners knew their place. Now, all sorts of rabble come to do whatever they want: Mechanists preach heresy in the open, refugees mooch from true citizens, and gods forbid, there are even druids and anarchists here now, plotting the demise of civilized society. As much as they reminisce about the good old days, the Scions don’t truly wish to hand the city back to Velthiria, as it would benefit them much more to put a crown on one of their own.   The Scions of Tisoria have no real leader, although a half-elf sorcerer named of Istavion Alderic is attempting to rally support to place himself at the faction's head. Derisively named the Thinblood Prince, Istavion is rumored to be the bastard son of the elderly King Halendir of Velthiria.    

The Ember Trading Company

Associated Quests:

• Increasing the Company’s profits at any cost
• Advancing the progress of technology
• Deepening Tisoria’s alliance to other cities in the Pact of Valdoro

Associated Items:

• Potions and Scrolls, except those using illegal talents
• Items that require the Creation, Destruction, Enhancement, or Warp Spheres to create
• Magical firearms and bullets
• Items associated with the following classes: Alchemist, Armiger, Armorist, Blacksmith, Gunslinger, Investigator, Scholar, Swashbuckler, Technician

Contraband? No   Founded seven centuries ago by entrepreneurial goldmarrow dwarves, the Ember Trading Company holds a near-monopoly on international trade in the Pact of Valdoro. Wealth among the Valdoran elite is measured equally in land as in shares owned in the Ember Trading Company. In the current day, all races work for the Ember Trading Company, although dwarves, humans, and dragonkin dominate its upper echelons. The Company operates hundreds of mercantile ships and airships, carrying precious minerals, spices, luxury products, and all kinds of alchemical and magical components that fuel the industries of the world. It even has its own mercenary army, and rules dozens of townships and island colonies along its trade routes. Lead by the visionary Hugo Galignus, the Ember Trading Company’s representatives in Tisoria would like to keep the city free, open, and most importantly, wealthy. And what better ways to ensure a future of progress and prosperity, than putting the Company in charge?    

The Sybilite Church

Associated Quests:

• Destroying creatures and objects of supernatural evil without mercy
• Defending and healing the victims of supernatural evil
• Helping the city’s refugees, as long as they are not tainted by the Scourge or casters of Occult magic

Associated Items:

• Implements, Potions, Scrolls and Spell Engines, except those using illegal talents
• Items that require the Divination, Fate, Life, Light, Protection, or War spheres to create
• Items with Good auras, or require the crafter to have a Good alignment to create
• Items associated with the following classes: Cleric, Inquisitor, Paladin, Soul Weaver, Warden, Warpriest (positive energy only)

Contraband? No   When Anchora Magna fell to the Scourge, Archeirophant Verita IV was away in Tisoria with her retinue. Since that day, she has named Tisoria the new seat of the Sybilite Church, and gathered what survived of its hierarchy to the city. The Archeirophant's presence has drawn countless refugees to the city, stretching the Church’s already diminished resources even thinner. While most welcome the hope and divine protection the Church brings, quite a few are displeased with the situation. Verita IV has claimed the cathedral next to the Arcanarium as her base of operations, and the university’s mages find themselves suddenly scrutinized by the prying eyes of clergy, looking for any sign of heresy in their magical dealings.    

The Arcanarium and the Order of St. Laurelion

Associated Quests:

• Recovering magical artifacts
• Researching magical secrets
• Keeping dangerous magic out of the wrong hands (ie. anyone not part of the Arcanarium or the Order)
• Capturing and containing dangerous magical or eldritch creatures

Associated Items:

• Apparatuses, Implements, Potions, Scrolls and Spell Engines, except those using illegal talents
• Items that require the Creation, Dark, Divination, Illusion, Light, Mind (Cognition only), Telekinesis, Time, or Warp Spheres to create
• Items associated with the following classes: Alchemist, Arcanist, Fey Adept, Investigator, Magus, Occultist, Scholar, Sorcerer, Summoner, Wizard, Witch

Contraband? No   The Arcanarium is a prestigious university of arcane sciences, built and funded by the Order of St. Laurelion. It is the reason for Tisoria's reputation as a global center of magical learning, research and innovation, and produces mages that rise to the top of the political and industrial landscape in Tisoria and beyond. Despite Laurelion's status as a canonized saint and ascendant deity in the Sybilite faith, his followers are believed to walk the thin line between esoteric science and forbidden occultism. Under the guidance of Magister Damien Serane, the foremost expert in counterspelling and magic nullifcation in the known world, the Order’s efforts in the containment and study of eldritch horrors have proved invaluable to the city’s defenders. However, the order continues to draw suspicion from orthodox Sybilites that consider their methods dangerous at best, heretical at worst.    

House Windrelli

Associated Quests: Illegal activities, especially assassination, necromancy, high profile heists, and mind control   Associated Items:

• Items that require the Blood, Dark, Death, Destruction, or Mind spheres to create
• Contraband items that reanimate the undead
• Contraband items sourced from undead
• Contraband items that mind control or harm protected types and subtypes
• Items associated with the following classes: Crimson Dancer, Eliciter, Mesmerist, Ninja, Psychic, Ranger, Rogue, Slayer, Spiritualist, Symbiat, Vigilante

Contraband? Yes   The half-elven Windrelli crime family likes to style themselves as a house of old blood nobles, although anyone that’s aware of their history knows that their first patriarch came from lowly roots as an assassin for hire. Nevertheless, the Windrellis can be found mingling with high society, and their close ties with disreputable elements in the Scions of Tisoria allow them to get away with plenty of illegal dealings. The Windrellis practice protection rackets, extortion, trafficking, and especially assassination, but with a veneer of honor, religious devotion, and concern for the greater good of Tisoria.    

The Shrouded Syndicate

Associated Quests: Illegal activities, especially espionage, blackmail, information brokering, identity theft, and outsider trafficking   Associated Items:

• Items that require the Conjuration, Divination, Dark, Illusion, Mind, or Warp spheres to create
• Contraband items that create or summon aberrations and evil outsiders
• Contraband items sourced from aberrations and evil outsiders
• Contraband items that mind control protected types and subtypes
• Items associated with the following classes: Fey Adept, Investigator, Ninja, Medium, Occultist, Psychic, Rogue, Summoner, Symbiat, Thaumaturge, Vigilante

Contraband? Yes   Directly competing with House Windrelli in the underworld is the merciless Shrouded Syndicate, which terrorizes the lower class districts they call their turf. The Shrouded Syndicate is a conspiracy of halflings notorious for their ability to find anything for a price: information, contraband, services, and people. The masterminds of the Syndicate remain largely in the shadows, operating through street gangs and mercenaries that find it more profitable (and less life-threatening) to operate as gang enforcers. How these violent thugs are allowed to brazenly terrorize the good people of Tisoria is a debated topic, but the most credible rumors claim that the Syndicate has the tacit support of various industrialists, and even the Ember Trading Company, who hire them as goon squads and strikebreakers.    

The Docker’s Guild

Associated Quests:

• Protecting and helping the working class
• Keeping peace in lower class districts without involving city authorities
• Vigilante justice against “untouchable” criminals under the protection of other Factions

Associated Items:

• Items that require the Enhancement, Protection, or War spheres to create
• Items that directly benefit combat maneuvers, improvised weapons, natural attacks, unarmored defense, and unarmed strikes
• Items associated with the following classes: Barbarian, Bard, Bloodrager, Brawler, Fighter, Monk, Rogue, Skald, Slayer, Striker, Vigilante

Contraband? No   Trade is the lifeblood of Tisoria, and nowhere is that more evident than in Tisoria’s industrial harbors. Here, dockworkers toil day and night to keep the tremendous amounts of goods and wealth flowing. Owing to the importance of their work, the Docker’s Guild has an unusual amount of power for a working class organization, able to negotiate with wealthy Factions in the city for better treatment and better wages through a history of successful strikes. This makes the Docker’s Guild hugely unpopular with the upper classes, who see it as little better than a criminal mob, especially since Tisoria’s dockers are disproportionately composed of half-orcs descended from the indentured orc laborers that built these docks. The Ember Trading Company has for decades considered the Docker’s Guild a thorn in its side, and if rumors are true, has plans to replace them with constructs.    

The Circle of the Secret Garden

Associated Quests:

• Protecting nature from the ravages of industrial civilization
• Helping the poor, especially beastfolk and refugees
• Destroying industrial or mercantile facilities
• Rehabilitating, instead of killing or capturing, corrupted creatures of the wilds

Associated Items:

• Items that require the Alteration, Destruction, Fallen Fey, Nature, or Weather spheres to create
• Contraband items that harm protected types and subtypes
• Items that directly benefit natural attacks
• Items made for animal, plant, or vermin companions
• Items that create or summon animals, elementals, fey, magical beasts, plants, or vermin
• Items associated with the following classes: Barbarian, Bloodrager, Druid, Elementalist, Hedgewitch, Hunter, Kineticist, Oracle, Ranger, Shaman, Shifter, Witch

Contraband? Yes   The Circle of the Secret Garden is a druidic commune based in Tisoria’s overgrown slum district called the Roots. Contrary to most druidic circles that avoid industrial society, the Circle of the Secret Garden is dedicated to providing a natural refuge to those wild at heart with no means to escape a life of urban squalor. While most of the Circle’s members are wood elves, “barbaric” humans from the Far North, and ever-marginalized beastfolk refugees from the Scourgelands, the Secret Garden welcomes all who hold respect for nature and its magic. This well-intentioned philosophy proves to be problematic in the Third Darkness; not only is the Circle willing to harbor criminals behind their brambled hedges, such as the infamous eco-terrorrist Dawnchaser, but Scourge cultists sometimes take advantage of the Circle’s protection to enact their nefarious plots.    

The Cults of the Scourge

Associated Quests:

• Advancing the expansion of the Scourge
• Sowing madness and destruction in Tisoria
• L̴͕̉͛̈E̸͓̞̮̎̕͠T̵̥̬̳̥̏ ̴̣͓͕̂̕C̵̯̣̐̾̅H̶̗̝̋͐͘͝A̵͍̋̏́Ò̵̫̰̪̠͌̾S̶̯͎̪̠̎͌ ̵̡̝͕́̾̈́T̴̗͐͊A̴̹͇͑̂̃K̸̲͖͗E̶̜̖̤͗̎͠ ̶̧̦̅̀̈́̎T̸̝͚̰̟̓̓̍̓H̶̢̒Ȩ̴̗͎͉͂̚ ̵̹̬̙̉Ẉ̶̯̩̒̑̔̚Ǒ̵̧̰̐R̶̥̅̔͂́L̷͓̻̬̓̔̈̑D̵̡̄͗

Associated Items:

• Items that require the Alteration, Blood, Conjuration, Death, Destruction, Divination, Illusion, Mind, and Warp spheres
• All contraband items
• Items associated with the following classes: Antipaladin, Hedgewitch, Occultist, Oracle, Psychic, Spiritualist, Shaman, Summoner, Symbiat, Thaumaturge, Witch

Contraband? Yes   Special: Accomplishing quests for this Faction always nets a negative Favor with another Faction, usually the Tisorian City Council. Quests for this Faction may be presented as manipulation by conspiratorial quest givers, allowing player characters to be duped into helping the Scourge without having to roleplay an insane cultist or psychopath. However, the players must always be made aware that their characters are advancing the interests of an extremely evil Faction.   Hiding among both citizens and refugees are the mad, traumatized, or perhaps nihilistic folk who see the eldritch Scourge that destroyed Anchora Magna as a glorious sign of the end times. While their motivations and origins are diverse, Scourge cultists are unified by their insane worship of the Great Old Ones, and their belief that the Scourge is only the beginning of a beautiful apocalypse. Scourge cultists seek to finish what Grand Inquisitor Abrazan started by calling the Great Old Ones to Amalthea in body and spirit, replacing the Elder Gods as this plane’s chief divinities. They are sworn enemies to most of the city’s other Factions, even the criminal or corrupt ones, but rumor has it that they have already infiltrated every strata of society. It is only their infighting and mental instability that prevents them from destroying Tisoria for once and for all.