Factions are an important part of the D&D Adventurers League experience. Belonging to a faction sometimes means having responsibilities, but it also carries with it support and rewards for service. If you ever switch factions or leave a faction, you lose all ranks and renown with the old faction, and must start at the lowest rank with zero renown with your new faction. It is important to note that characters made with races from Volo’s Guide to Monsters are required to have a faction. If you leave your faction, the character is no longer playable, unless of course they’re moving to another faction approved for that race. Additional information on the specific factions can be found in the D&D Adventurers League Player’s Guide. Faction Advancement and Benefits As a character with membership in one of the factions completes adventures, he or she earns renown for completing tasks that align with the faction’s goals. This is expressed as renown points awarded at the end of any given adventure. Faction Advancement As characters earn renown and complete secret missions, they progress in the ranks of their factions, granting them greater authority and additional benefits. Rank Renown Other Requirements 1 0 -- 2 3 -- 3 10 5th Level, 1 Secret Mission 4 25 11th Level, 3 Secret Missions 5 50 17th Level, 10 Secret Missions Faction Benefits Rank 1: Initiate This is the rank a character receives when first joining a faction. It is available at character creation or any time the character wishes to join. Participate in Faction Activities. You can participate in any activities that are considered specific to your faction. Earn Renown. You earn renown points in your faction and advance in rank. Faction Assignments. As an Initiate, you are eligible to take on faction assignments during adventures. These are minor side quests found in many D&D Adventurers League adventures. Receive Your Faction’s Insignia. You receive an insignia of your faction, fashioned into a wearable or held item. Faction Insignia Faction Item Emerald Enclave Leaf Clasp Harpers Pin Lords' Alliance Signet Ring (symbol palm side) Order of the Gauntlet Pendant Zhentarim Gold Coin (stamped symbol) Rank 2: Agent Agents have shown that they’re aligned with the faction’s goals, and can take on more responsibility. Secret Missions. During certain adventures, you may be given the opportunity to undergo a secret mission on behalf of your faction. Completion of these missions might earn you additional benefits or enable you to advance to higher ranks within your faction. Apprenticeship to an Adventurer Mentor. Your character can serve as an apprentice to a higher ranking adventurer from within your faction. See the Apprentice-Mentor Benefits section, below, for more details. Faction Training. Your character can take advantage of accelerated training programs for tool kits most often used by your faction. This training comes at a lesser cost than usual tool training, taking half as long (125 downtime days), but you must pay an additional 125 gp as a training expense for each proficiency. Factions Available Training Emerald Enclave Herbalism Kit, Woodcarver's Tools, or Cartographer's Tools Harpers Musical Instrument, Calligrapher's Supplies, or Disguise Kit Lords' Alliance Jeweler's Tools, Mason's Tools, Navigator's Tools, Painter's Supplies, Gaming Set, or Any Standard Language Order of the Gauntlet Smith's Tools, Leatherworker's Tools, Carpenter's Tools, Masons Tools, or Vehicles Zhentarim Disguise Kit, Forgery Kit, Poisoner's Kit, or Thieve's Tools Rank 3: Stalwart Stalwarts are reliable faction members, entrusted with many secrets and deserving of additional support during adventures. Faction Downtime Activity. You gain access to a faction-specific downtime activity that gives you additional benefits when you use it. If your faction has any specific downtime activities for the current storyline season, they can be found in the D&D Adventurers League Dungeon Master’s Guide. Item Procurement. With an expenditure of resources, you can acquire a magic item from your faction. To procure the item, you must go on minor adventures for your faction (represented by downtime days), and perform bribes, charitable acts, and provide provisions (represented by the expenditure of gold) in service of your faction. The item received in exchange for this increases your magic item count and is not tradeable. Some items are only available to certain factions as indicated in the Item Procurement Options table. A character may purchase any number of items so long as they pay the associated downtime day and gold costs for each item. Additionally, you must be at least 5th level to acquire a rare item. Location Specific Activity. Members of the five factions who have achieved rank 3 have access to the following special downtime activities when adventuring in and around the specified location(s). Item Procurement Costs Faction Uncommon Items - 50 downtime, and 500gp Rare Items - 100 Downtime, and 5'000gp All Factions +1 Weapon, or +1 Shield +1 Armor Emerald Enclave Cloak of the Manta Ray Ring of Animal Influence Harpers Cloak of Elvenkind Ring of Resistance (any) Lords' Alliance Ring of Mind Shielding Cloak of the Mountebank Order of the Gauntlet Cloak of Protection Ring of Warmth Zhentarim Slippers of Spiderclimb Ring of Evasion Location Specific Activities Chart Faction Near Hillsfar Near Mulmaster Emerald Enclave Madness Ward. You are an Autumnreaver of the Emerald Enclave, and know that the madness creeping to the surface world from the depths of the Underdark is wholly unnatural. By performing cleansing rituals and warding areas where demonic madness has been seen or felt, you and your companions can bolster your resistance to that madness. For each downtime day you spend, you can grant yourself or an ally a madness ward that lasts until your next long rest. A creature with this madness ward can use a reaction to gain advantage on a saving throw against madness. A character can have only one madness ward active at a time. Secluded Haven. You have a secret place just outside the city where you and your allies can rest, recuperate, and find mounts. When you use the recuperating downtime activity (see the Basic Rules or the Player’s Handbook), you can apply the effects to your entire group. In addition, at the beginning of an adventure or when appropriate, you can spend downtime days to borrow mounts (riding horses, ponies, or mules) for yourself and your group. The cost is 1 downtime day per mount borrowed. All mounts must be returned at the end of the adventure. If any mount dies during the course of the adventure, you must pay half its value in gold. Harpers Mental Fortitude. You are a Brightcandle of the Harpers. Under the tutelage of your faction-mates in Elventree, you have learned the secrets of healing the mind. If you are afflicted with any type of madness, you can spend one downtime day to reduce your madness level by 1, and to cure any short-term madness or long-term madness that afflicts you. You can do the same for allies, but the cost is three downtime days per ally cured. You cannot use this benefit to cure indefinite madness, and you cannot reduce your madness level to 0 if you are afflicted with indefinite madness. Arcane Amnesty. You have friends within the Cloaks—an order of arcanists in Mulmaster—that are sympathetic to the Harpers’ cause. You have advantage on any social interaction checks to exonerate you or anyone in your group for using restricted magic in and around the city. In addition, you can spend downtime days to have an arrested caster freed from prison or harsh punishment. The cost is 1 downtime day per level of the violating spell. Lords' Alliance Rally the Troops. You are a Stingblade of the Lords’ Alliance, dedicated to helping the common folk stand strong against the demonic influences pouring forth from the Underdark. By spending ten downtime days to rally the locals—whether surface dwellers or Underdark denizens—you can call three bandits (see appendix B of the Monster Manual) to your assistance. By spending fifteen downtime days, you can rally three bandits and one bandit captain to your aid. These allies perform any tasks within reason and capability, but they part ways with you after taking part in one combat or at the end of the adventure, whichever comes first. If things are looking grim and you do not already have these allies (and have not already called them during the current adventure), you can use a bonus action to spend an additional five downtime days (for a total of fifteen or twenty downtime days) and have these allies immediately show up in a place of the Dungeon Master’s choosing. Hawk Association. You are part of the Hawks, the secret police of Mulmaster. You maintain law and order through intimidation and strongarm tactics. You can coerce information from the common folk for your benefit, gaining advantage on any Charisma (Intimidation) checks to do so. Once per adventure at the beginning of an adventure, you can spend 3 downtime days to learn an adventure secret. The Dungeon Master provides you with a secret that only you know about the adventure, and you gain advantage on all checks to recall related information for the duration of the adventure. Order of the Gauntlet Investiture of the Divine. You are a Whitehawk in the Order of the Gauntlet, and have been a participant in prayer circles and rites to combat the demons spilling from the Underdark. You can spend ten downtime days to gain an investiture of the divine that lasts until your next long rest. While your investiture is active, you can use a bonus action on each of your turns to grant you or an ally within 30 feet of you the ability to bypass damage resistances on the next attack made against a demon. This benefit does not bypass a demon’s immunities. Judge Friend. You are a dueling judge, and have overseen many duels in Mulmaster. You have the ear of friends within the dueling judge community, and can call upon the services of a battlehardened warrior to lend you aid. At the beginning of an adventure or when appropriate, you can spend 5 downtime days to recruit a veteran (see appendix B of the Monster Manual). The veteran performs any tasks within reason and capability, but parts ways with you after taking part in one combat or at the end of the adventure. Zhentarim Opportunist. You are a Viper of the Zhentarim, and are adept at slithering your way into advantageous positions. Despite the Red Plumes’ grip on trade in the region and the chaos spreading as a result of madness in the Underdark, you are in a perfect position to profit. While you adventure, you are able collect valuables without the other party members’ knowledge, then sell those valuables at a later date. For each ten downtime days you spend before an adventure, increase your gold rewards from the adventure by 10 percent, up to a maximum of 50 percent for that adventure. Procure Illicit Goods. You have contacts among smugglers residing in the ghettos of the city, who are able to procure restricted and illicit items for you. At the beginning of an adventure or when appropriate, you can spend 2 downtime days to gain one of the following items for the duration of the adventure: carrion crawler mucus, serpent venom, or a moldering scroll holding a 1st-level spell of your choice. Then roll on the Procure Illicit Goods table (below) to see what happens as a result of your dealings. Zhentarim - Procure Illicit Goods Table [chart for above] 1d20 Result 1-3 You are caught red-handed and jailed for 1d8 days. You do not gain the item. You must spend additional downtime days to cover this jail time, but you do not spend your lifestyle costs for these days. You can avoid jail by paying 50 gp per day of jail time. 4-6 You are accosted by the city watch while making the deal. You lose 100 gp and begin the adventure at half your hit point maximum, but you manage to retain possession of the item. 7-12 You find a fence willing to sell you the item, but it’s going to cost you. Make a DC 10 Charisma (Persuasion) check. If you succeed, you pay 50 gp for the item. If you fail, you pay 200 gp for the item. 13-18 You are able to swindle or fast-talk your way into obtaining the item, gaining it for free. 19-20 You manage to obtain one item for free while attempting to steal another. Make a DC 10 Dexterity (Sleight of Hand) check. If you succeed, choose two different items instead of one. You gain both of the items for free. If you fail, you instead gain one item for free. Rank 4: Mentor Mentors are trusted voices within their given faction. They are looked upon as champions of the faction’s beliefs, and as mentors by those of lower rank. Become a Mentor. You can designate Agents or Stalwarts as your charge. See the Apprentice-Mentor Benefits section. Faction Philanthropist. As a Mentor of your faction, you may choose to pay for or cast raise dead, resurrection, or true resurrection spells for a member of your faction after an adventure is completed—even if you were not adventuring together. In doing so, assuming you aren’t casting the spell yourself, you must pay the full cost of the spellcasting service plus 25 downtime days (to deliver the body and find a cleric). Rank 5: Exemplar Exemplars are deeply ensconced within the leadership of their faction and have a great degree of influence, guiding faction decisions. Become a Faction Exemplar. When you play this character along with other members of your faction, you can choose one lower ranked member of your faction (Agent, at a minimum) to begin the game with Inspiration. This must be used by the end of the game session, or it is lost. Apprenticeship Two characters in the same faction (played by different players), may choose to enter an Apprentice-Mentor relationship. The mentor must at least be a Mentor and the apprentice must be of a lower rank, but at least an Agent. A Mentor may only have one apprentice at a given time. Similarly, an apprentice may only have one Mentor. This relationship persists until the apprentice or mentor permanently die, the apprentice achieves the same rank as the mentor, or they decide to part ways (this is generally reserved for players that become inactive or for whatever reason have lost contact with one another). Apprentice and Mentor Activities Each character in the relationship gains a story award, “Faction Mentor (Apprentice Name)” or “Faction Apprentice (Mentor Name)” and is eligible to participate in specific activities. Adventure Details. When an apprentice and mentor bond they reveal the locations of magic items and faction secret missions that they have participated in to each other. There is no additional cost associated with this activity. Item Trading. When trading magic items between the apprentice and mentor, the cost is only 10 downtime days instead of the usual 15. Fighting Partners. By practicing fighting together before adventures, an apprentice and mentor can gain complimentary combat abilities. When both an apprentice and mentor are participating in the same adventuring group (they must be together at the same table, not just in the same Epic) the apprentice and mentor may spend 5 downtime before the start of the adventure. If they do, they gain the following benefits: Any saving throw made by one participant to save against an effect created by the other is made with advantage. Once per short rest, a participant may use the Help action to assist the other as a bonus action. Neither participant acts as cover against ranged attacks made by the other. Apprentice Activities Language and Tool Training. The apprentice may learn any language or tool proficiency that their mentor possesses for 125 downtime (no GP cost). Word of Advice. Mentors grant their apprentice advantage on one check, save, or attack roll once during an adventure or chapter. This activity costs 5 downtime days to the apprentice, spent prior to the adventure and declared to the Dungeon Master prior to the start of the adventure. Mentor Activities Mentorship Renown. When a mentor takes on a new apprentice they immediately gain the benefit of a successful Secret Mission for their faction. This can only be done once per character. Learn by Teaching. Mentors gain advantage on one check, save, or attack roll once during a module or hardcover chapter due to reflecting on their prior adventures with their apprentice. This activity costs 5 downtime days to the mentor, spent prior to the adventure and declared to the Dungeon Master prior to the start of the adventure. Faction Pedagogue. By taking on an apprentice you become approachable to other members of your faction who ask you for advice. As you dispense this advice you become better known in your faction. You may spend 30 downtime days in exchange for 1 renown. This can only be done once per character. Mentor’s Pride. As your apprentice grows in power their deeds reflect on you. Each time your apprentice gains a level that would put them into a higher tier (levels 5, 11, or 17), you gain 1 renown.
