Factions

Simple, easy to run, easy to play, and full of drama! The simplicity of the rules belies how complex the scenarios can get, as you juggle the agendas of other players, NPCs, and natural (or even extra-natural) events with your own goals!

I've gotten to play a few campaigns of Factions, and most games tend to have not only a large, overarching narrative that involves everyone, but each player naturally develops their own side-story that ties into the main narrative in all sorts of unique and interesting ways. Practically half the fun is the anticipation of finding out what everyone else was up to behind closed doors! Strongly recommend, works very well as a lite play by post game to have going with a group of friends in the background over a long period of time, and is a great way of keeping friends without a lot of time on their hands close.

I enjoyed reading Factions, which is a quality product, worthy of your time. Having read it, I wish dearly that there were public examples of play available, especially since it is intended for play-by-post. Peter does include examples for one hypothetical player, but I still came away without a clear picture of Factions' intended PvP gameplay.

Nonetheless, I am excited by the ideas in here, and I'm itching to give it a go.

Factions creates a wonderful framework for fun collaborative, asynchronous storytelling. It is a delightful RPG for the busy bustling world of modern life. Through interactions (DM) with other players and the GM controlled NPCs, the threads of the story were not lost as the weeks passed by but continued to thrive and build. The GM also has the ability to help step in if other players are not able to keep up with the timetable set for turns at the start of the campaign. 

There is a great deal of flexibility, customizability, and creativity that the format allows for. The creator of Factions/our GM/Peter also did a phenomenal job crafting interesting turn objective outcomes that propelled the narrative forward while still allowing for complete freedom with how one might choose to respond on the next turn. It seemed like Peter took great care to make sure everyone felt valued and had their contributions respected and included in the various twists and turns of the campaign.

Rolling was always nerve-wrecking but so much fun! After having put together details for your objectives that turn and interacted with fellow players, the anticipation of seeing how much might go awry was always exhilarating and then waiting to see how the role would be interpreted by the GM was also suspenseful in the best way possible: a positive eager event to look forward to. 

In the campaign that I had the privilege and pleasure to play in, I was able to take inspiration from a SF novel I enjoy (The Seep by Chana Porter) to craft a Faction with Peter's blessing that challenged the notion of Alien Invasion. I highly encourage Factions as a RPG where you might play out different ideas  whether inspired by media or direct from your own imagination. You could write as much or as little as you felt like in your turn objectives and journal. 

We did have a couple of synchronous meetings of folks from the campaign to attempt live role-play, which was nice, and I think integrated well and also added to the bonding between players and/or the playful animosity between Factions. With or without this component, playing Factions was a meaningful way to spend that ever elusive thing known as one's free-time.

On a personal note, I, like many folks, struggle with not tearing everything I write to shreds. I am often told my designs or ideas are not (enter adjective here) enough, but no one tells me this more than myself. In other RPGs that I have played where participation relied upon speaking up more so in a live, real-time setting, I often would not make my voice heard and could feel more like a passenger than an active, invested participant. I liked the play-by-post writing format of Factions that allows for greater thought and reflection (and interaction for an introvert) and I found the smaller writing objectives of turns to be much more manageable for my imposter syndrome. Overall, the Factions campaign was a rewarding experience and I have recommended it and will continue to recommend it to anyone who cares to listen (preferably over a fresh fruity beverage). 

The campaigns that Peter hosted always had their own routes.  Players have complete freedom while making sure everything makes sense. There was  also  an      element of  randomness so the end result isn't always what you expect.

I would recommend using his system as well as participating in his campaigns (perhaps for inspiration).

Excellent system, extremely rules-lite yet very well done. No nuts, buts, or coconuts to worry about when playing, and it fosters creativity in ANY setting. I've personally run this system twice, and I plan on doing it again. The campaigns that peter runs are also superb. Heavy recommendations from here

Awesome game, have been in two campaigns and created some really cool worlds and characters. With the right group a system like this, it really lets people go deep into their creative niche and can create a really vivid and living world when everyone is contributing to the lore in a positive way. Definitely would recommend!