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[Ardent Debater]

One thing I've always liked about the Post-Apocalyptic Genre is the Factions, the motely collection of bizarre people/mutants/intelligent animals etc and their equally bizarre beliefs and customs. So I decided to start a Thread based around the Creation of such Factions for use in RP's and Stories or for whatever else. Let's see what Bay12 can come up with.

#1: The Green Angels

Green Angels of Hell

People see motorcycles in post-apocalyptic world and think "Raiders!". In certain areas of the Northwest, it means your prayers for help have been answered.

These strong warriors ride alcohol powered bikes. They fight with some firearms, but the mostly  use crossbows and maces. They patrol and defend their territories (which they don't run, but simply help the local rulers rule justly) from raiders and outsiders who would enslave people to a dogma or carma (it is an in-joke for them).

Angels also help in scavenging areas. They set up recycling to reclaim the wealth of the past. They share their knowledge of new-tech (Greener tech that uses less resources and more brains to get the job done). They are experts in steam and alcohol powered tech.

Green Angels tend to live in communities near other communities called Chapter-towns. Here they educate their young in the ways of the long past, the greedy times (recent/ pre-apocalypse), and the new times and tech. While they are learning technical and social things, they are also being taught how to ride, how to fight, and how to shoot. (They also have access to electricity as well, so they are keeping some of the old media alive as a teaching tool.)

Many nearby communities have chapter-houses, or way-stations for Green Angels out riding.

Green Angels will allow others to live in their communities for a time. Eventually every community member has to take The Vow. The Vow is to uphold freedom, to let no human tell you what to do or what is right or what is wrong, but to work for the common good and fight against injustice and greed wherever it may be."

Green Angels usually work together in packs. However, a Green Angel will feel the need "To Ride" and will go out as a Knight Errant.

Imagine a Hell's Angel group hooking up with some older biker members that had straight jobs, including some engineering and green work skills. Add a dash of SCA and some local martial artists wanting to help, and these Greener Hell's Angels would make a strong nucleus for a religion.

[Lermfish]

#2: The International Society of Renowned Explorers

Travellers, first and foremost. The Renowned Explorers are a nomadic collective of men and women who live in large vehicles, seeing the sights, trading, learning and sharing knowledge. When they pack up and head for new swaths of open countryside, you'll know it, as their trademark rollerhomes and miles-long convoy will likely be keeping traffic in your lane crawling at a suicide-inducing speed.

Their vehicles are an impressive product of sophisticated engineering and long-lost, old-school knowledge handed down through generations. They wear rugged safari and traveller gear (hunting hats and canvas shorts, etc), always seen with a large bag on their backs. For a group that stresses travelling light, they have more than enough supplies -- including an armoury, just in case -- to see them through.

Renowned Explorers are also very fraternal, and treat other members as if they were blood. They tend to be neutral, only getting involved in conflicts that directly involve them. But, they are loyal to their friends. A friend in the Renowned Explorers is a friend to be sure.

[Cheesecake]

#3: Red Silk

The Red Silk is one of the last trading cartels in the world, and they deal in one necessity abundant in the wastes: humanity.

The slavers are mounted upon vicious warbikes and trucks. They garb in red silk and black leather, and wrap their heads in bloodstained shawls. They utilize clubs and bats, and are armed with non-lethal firearms. Harming their merchandise is a great crime.

They have a circular network of settlements, who agree to offer the Red Silk sanctuary, while the slavers offer their catch in the marketplaces. The Red Silk is a boon to many a wasteland king, and truly, many Red Silk leaders are noble-born. Their Princes rule with iron fists, dressed delicately in silk. Soft to the touch, cold and hard beneath.

The Red Silk is also a plague upon the unworthy and unwary, snatching them from their makeshift yurts, shipping them across the wastes and even beyond the poisoned seas.

When you see the dust rise in the wastes, and silk fluttering in the wind: run fast. They'll value you more if they know you've got good legs.

[Ardent Debater]

#4 The Listers

They're sort of a religious order. They've got small chapter-houses, usually near the larger settlements, which they support by doing mostly clerical work. You want a contract witnessed, a deal certified, a will recorded - the Listers will happily do that for a small fee. They also take the Census. Every spring, small parties head out from the chapter-houses to make long trips through the surrounding districts. They'll ask about people, their holdings, their comings and goings, and they offer assistance where they can. If you want to know if corn is trending higher in a nearby market town, ask a Lister. If you want to check somebody's lineage, ask them too. And they take tissue samples too, if folks are willing. Something about deriving "the True Lineage". Wackos, perhaps, but they're generally useful to have around. And the chapterhouses communicate with one another by courier. They don't take kindly to having their mails disrupted, but all they ever contain are hand-written documents of random 5-letter groups - thousands and thousands of them per sheet. Weird, but what do you expect from a sect that grew out of an association of actuaries?

Don't be afraid to post, people.

[Ardent Debater]

Bump

[Lermfish]

#5 The Order of the Advent

With pre-apocalypse roots, the Advent were early for the party. Super early, even. Like the one friend everyone has that they like, but is kind of annoying, so they send him an invite an hour in advance to--wow. Anyway, the Order of the Advent is an amalgam of different religions from all over the globe, with a primarily eastern (aesthetic and philosophy) and Catholic (aesthetic only) flair. Like the Mormons and Amish, they preached the concept behind preparedness, and enjoyed communities that were reasonably insulated against the apocalypse.

Of course, this made them a bit skittish. It's no secret that humans aren't nearly as great as they think and are actually quite animalian, both in their conduct with each other and the world itself. Humans are lazy, and expect everything for nothing (+90% anyway), so when they didn't take it upon themselves to react to the all-too-obvious signs and, instead, chose to maraud their way to survival, you can bet that the Advent was poised to strike at every passer-by they did not recognise. Some tried. None have succeeded. This is where the Advent gets dark. They stress the philosophy of making examples out of your enemies, and will often brutally torture would-be marauders and put their mangled bodies on display around their perimeter. The higher on the marauder rating you are, the more you endure. They make surgical care to ensure that those who venture into sick-and-twisted territory. If you intend to steal from others or do anything egregious, best you don't find yourself anywhere near the Advent. Even the non-religious will be praying for you, and frankly, whatever creator is out there should be as well. Because you're in for it!

That aside, the Advent are rather peaceful, and have a take-anyone-in philosophy, as long as they are able to adhere to the Order's philosophy. Often seen in religious garb of some sort, the Advent is an interesting faction in that they don't have any particular goal other than survival. For them, every day they wake up and find themselves greeted by the sun is them being successful in their mission.

^{((Shout out to me x years ago. I made this faction for a post-apoc nation builder called Mosaic Earth. To the Finnish guy who ran the thing: You're still a plonker. He won't see this, but meh.))}

[Cryxis, Prince of Doom]

(Mind if I just post factions I already have used in my games?)

[Ardent Debater]

(Mind if I just post factions I already have used in my games?)

(Not at all! The more the merrier!)

[FallacyofUrist]

#6: The Better Ones:

Every day... and every night. Change occurs. Change for the better. For the better indeed. Led by He Who Always Improves, The Better Ones are humans who have been mutated by the eldritch thing that is He Who Always Improves. The Better Ones always improve, by semi-randomly mutating their bodies over a period of years, and removing bad mutations. The more mutations they undergo, the more respected they are amongst the Better Ones.

Whether or not the changes that The Better Ones undergo are beneficial or not is a matter of opinion. How useful are horns, anyway?

The Better Ones have a base in an underground cave system with multiple layers and rooms(and the occasional mutagen trap). The base is always full of activity, caused by The Better Ones themselves, rival eldritch creatures, pilgrims who wish to join The Better Ones to improve themselves...

Amongst The Better Ones' greatest enemies is Entropy. The chaos elemental being, not the force. Although they are one and the same, to some degree, especially during the full moon. Entropy is... entropy. The end. The end of improvement, of everything, eventually. The Better Ones don't like this. Although they can't yet cancel out Entropy entirely, they are working on devising methods of slowing him/it down.

[Lermfish]

((As a self-improvement junkie, I like #6 the most. Best faction in the thread.))

[ZBridges]

PTW...

[Urist Mc Dwarf]

#7 The Swords of Cinn

Based out of ruins and the occasional isolated camps, the Swords of Cinn wield, unsurprisingly, swords often modified with precollapse tech. They appear from the shadows, and ambush travelers and settlements to steal things. They mainly take food and tools, but also steal seemingly random househould objects such as a toothbrush or a knickknack. These objects are sent back, from Cinn camp to outpost, until they eventually reach Cinn, where they are placed together in an arcane pattern. They have a war with the Red Silk, as they do not respect the sanctity of the traders

[Ardent Debater]

(Hooray, Posters!)

[Sosoku234]

#8 The Lost Traders

A group of displaced traders and mercenaries who have banded together to survive in a foreign area of the apocalyptic world. They are nomadic in lifestyle.

They somehow manage to scrounge up anything you could ever want or need. And they have them at a (usually) very reasonable price.

The mercs do anything they are paid to do. Some come from other factions and groups, some just kinda appear out of nowhere. They won't kill without proper reason or pay.

The group tries to have no enemies and prefer to stay out of any and all conflict with any other factions.

[Ardent Debater]

#9 The Sons Of The Blast

The Sons Of The Blast, or S.O.B's if you prefer, are a highly militant gang of anarchistic nihilists. They number in the tens of thousands and have access to some limited Modern Technology, such as small caliber firearms, the occasional jeep, etc but they are largely equipped with jury-rigged or homemade weaponry and equipment. The S.O.B's are a fairly new Faction but their twisted ideology has found fertile ground in dissatisfied Wastelanders across the Land. They believe that the Bombs that nearly eradicated Humanity were Holy Instruments of their Dark (Hopefully Fictional, for the People's Sake...) God Atomos and that the near-extinction of the Entire Human Race was His Will. The S.O.B's believe that all of Humanity is irrevocably corrupt and that the only way to redeem themselves and escape Eternal Suffering is to cleanse one's evil's by devoting their lives to the destruction of the Remnants of Humanity and any Mutants derived from them. The S.O.B's feel that, as Humanity is innately corrupt and that the only path to redemption is genocide, that anything that doesn't interfere with their ultimate Goal is completely fine. This Philosophy has led to a large amount of Drug Abuse, Misogyny, Theft, and other Despicable Actions being rather common among their Ranks. The S.O.B's are organized into massive 'Crusades' of 200 or 300 Warriors looting and pillaging across the Land before going back to one of their Bases to divvy it all up. When a Large Town or other substantially well-fortified Location beckons they will form a Horde numbering in the thousands to destroy it.

The Sons Of The Blast have a fondness for Explosives, Heavy Automatic-Firearms and Fire-Based Weaponry, although they are completely fine with Conventional Methods of dispute resolution, such as clubs, knives, and even whittled spears. They identify other S.O.B's by their Symbol/Uniform, if a Person has a Red Nuclear Mushroom Cloud prominently displayed on their person, they are most likely an S.O.B. The Sons Of The Blast are quite well-trained, and are for the most part, are Religious Zealots who will not hesitate to charge into gunfire if they think that they can kill or wound any of the 'Unclean Ones' before being slain. The S.O.B's often utilize Drugs as a Weapon, fueling their Bodies to  unnatural feats of Endurance and Strength, while completely removing rational Fear. The Sons Of The Blast are lead by their Prophet, The Bearer Of The Torch, who they believe is a Holy Prophet of Atomos, almost certainly hogwash, but there have been reports of a Red-Cloaked individual burning entire villages with Fire launched from the Palms of his hands, many think that he's just a normal Mutant Psychic but if so, he's quite a Powerful One. The Sons Of The Blast have many small Bases scattered across the Wastes but no-one has found their primary HQ yet. It's rumored to be somewhere up in the Rocky Mountains.