who’s that you’re with?: d66 factions and orgs

I’ve had some one-word prompt tables from various writing and art challenges squirrelled away, and finally sat myself down and did something with smashing a few together. My train of thought, over too many weeks to admit, went like this:

1. I kind of want to write up some starting equipment arrays, like that one in Knock!, but I need to make not just like the one in Knock! …
2. *keeps on making little phrase+themed equipment list starting ‘kits’ in pocketrpg stuff*
3. That table of Wilusan factions in City Of Chains worked out pretty good …

And in the end, I took the route of letting all three smash together. Lol.

So here are 36 factions/organizations/guilds/however you’d like to call them. They each have a name, a slogan/quote, a line explaining them a bit more, faction colours and symbol, and a list of five bits of gear. You can use them for quick NPC shorthand, or as groups PCs can belong to, or both.

On equipment: If using these as beginning PC options, I highly recommend also giving PCs a general “starting package”; maybe half the usual beginning funds, or something along the lines of “rations+bedroll+backpack+clothes+1 weapon if desired+2d10 [currency]”, adjusted to taste. Don’t stint them adventuring basics because they chose a bit more flavour is what I’m getting at here — there’s a reason that with very few exceptions these faction blocks have no weapons etc in them.

In any case, on with the main event —

d66	Faction Name	Faction Details
11	Barbed Walkers	“The merest scratch may bring low the unworthy.” Quiet observers and quieter meddlers, most often seen on the back roads and in the back alleys offering a bit of bread, a word carried along, a blade in the ribs – brown and rust-red; briar knot – wax tablet or slate, dozen cords for message-knots, edge-sharpened trowel, weathercloak, thorn-vial
12	Guiding Light	“We find our way through the darkness together.” More than lantern-bearers and candlesmiths, freely offering words of advice, murmurs of encouragement or simply a supportive silence and open hand – pale gold and dark amber; candle flame – lantern staff, oil flask and wicks, hand-warmer, counting beads, dozen candles
13	The Unseen	“Be like the small crawling ones of the world; unnoticed, and therefore everywhere.” To some, the best place to be is hidden in plain sight. Or, even better, to be able to insinuate oneself wherever one wishes, whether the long-sealed manor or the exclusive gala. – bright green and brown; a beetle – fifty feet of strong rope, barbed gloves, sturdy shoulderbag, notebook of infiltrations, pouch of disguises
14	Respitalers	“Let none be left in suffering and pain.” There are healers, and there are healers; and then there are those who walk fearlessly into the jaws of battle and pestilence, without judgement or hesitation, to do what must be done. – dark green and blood red; open-palmed hand – balm-box, golden needles and silk thread, scouring soap, coils of bandages, misericorde
15	Joyhearts	“If there’s not enough hope in the world, it’s up to us to create it.” Entertainers and clamourors, dashing street actors and colourful fools straight out of the tales and embellished histories, anyone willing to dedicate a smile and a song. – medley of bright colours; butterfly – well-thumbed book of tales, bright-coloured cloak, musical instrument or gameboard, packets of news, broadsheet paints
16	Alraune Network	“It’s alright if you don’t entirely trust me. But do listen to me.” Embracing the ways of hedges and herbs, poultices and poxes, whispers and hexes, roots and bones and waxy strange sweets from dogeared family tomes works better than given credit for. – orange and maroon; mandrake fruit – pouches of seeds or dry fungi or tiny bones, coils of multicoloured yarn, stoppered horn of special salve, layered cloak, yellowed girdle-book, storage gourd
21	Eel-Peers	“The deeps and torrents clutch their bounty close, but not from us.” Beachcombers and bargefolk, fishers and foragers, purveyors of treasures and tales and, yes, an abundance of seafood – pale grey and sea-green; coiled eel – weighted net, leister and hooks, oiled mantle, pearly ornament, hand-drawn map
22	Cornucopia	“May a thousand thousand dishes grace a thousand thousand tables.” Whether frugal or fancy, nothing but the most respect is made to prepare and present food; and woe to any who would waste any morsel without cause – golden brown and cream; cooking vessel – extra rations of all sorts, mess kit, collapsible firedog and pot, spice packets, waxed cloths
23	Souls Of Silver	“Change without breaking, come back from nothing.” Mystically inclined and determined to withstand whatever the world throws at them, concealing their hardiness behind reflections, mirrors, and metamorphoses – silver, white; moon disc – round mirror, silver bell, timepiece, personal diary, moonstone shard
24	Chasseurs Wych	“The wild summerlands lie under hill, and no venom is sweeter, no chains softer.” Changeling-child, Bright One-cursed, stumbler into a witchfire revel or bearing quicksilver blood, it does not matter, only the glory and cruel mercy of Faerie matters. – ruby red and royal purple; fleur-de-lis – butterfly-wing tunic, pouch of breadcrumbs, graven pebbles, twig dolly, hunting horn
25	The Swift	“Let the heavens themselves shake with the thunder of hooves.” Horse-folk. The gentling of wild-running beasts, the soothing of newborn foals, breeders of the most stunning of mounts, all this and more. Woe to those who harm horses. – grey and deep brown; horse – bitless halter and reins, saddle and tack, loyal horse, currying tools, ribbons and banner
26	Grey Shawls	“Mourning is a needed, natural thing, and it may last; so long as none are harmed.” Professional mourners, congregating not to feast on grief and loss but to guide those grieving through their loss without losing even more – soft grey and dusty blue; ring – grey shawl, pouch of ashes, watered wine, incense pendant, paper and ink
31	The Bright Path	“As history unfolds, as the roads wind on, we will ever find our way, and our fates, in the stars.” Navigators and diviners, searching the night skies above for the answers to what lies ahead in all ways and measures – blue-black and silver; multi-pointed star – astrolabe, star charts, birth charts, road map, starmetal bauble
32	Wildwalkers	“Everything you ever need is outside farms and roads and cities. Come and find it.” Hunters and tamers of beasts, foragers of wild produce and crafters of some of the most prized of wild material, from pine mushrooms to pelts to rainbows of dyes – rufous and black; claw – fur mantle, dozen snares, pouch of herbals, paintstones, wild sheep fleece
33	Pact Scarlet	“Life is in the blood, and the blood is not to be wasted without purpose or honour.” Executioners of grave verdicts and grim oaths both, whether life’s-blood washes their blades, crosses their lips or signs the documents in their care – deep red and steel grey; droplet – executioner’s weapon, blood ink, unfilled contracts, wax and signet, sealed drinking horn
34	Wayforger’s Guild	“Freedom is for all, and for all time.” None shall be constrained, say these folk; not by locks, nor confinement, nor small-minded ignorance nor crushing powers, because ways can be found around all. – blue and green; key – skeleton key, law codes, diamond-toothed file, writ of passage, writ of archive membership
35	Widening Gyre	“Our winged kin know much that they can teach us.” Avian enthusiasts in all ways, raising birds from pigeon to peregrine, hummingbird to harrier, and finding wisdom in both the act and in the soaring of their charges – brass and grey; feather – trained bird, packets of feathers, notes on bird-flight divination, mist net, collection of leg rings
36	Open Hearth	“Be ye great or small, be welcome; we all need a moment’s warmth.” Hospitality within one’s means is the philosophy, given without price or extracted oaths, whether a warm place to sleep by the fireside or the offer of shared cloak and travel-bread on the road. – dark orange and yellow; open gate – firestarter, extra cloak, extra rations, field dressings, horn of mead or cider
41	Scribes of Whispers	“What came before, we record in the now and pass to the future.” Scholars, copyists and explorers of ruins, believing that peoples may come and go, but their beliefs and traditions must live on, whether passed on from those who share or found in broken remnants – copper and ivory; rings linked in a triangle – scribe’s kit, antique map, dozen blank scrolls, oil paper and charcoal, offerings for the long dead
42	The Cresting Wave	“There’s no greater joy than the open sea and the salt breeze for your breath.” Sail-trimmers and shipwrights, fishers and privateers and swift conveyors of people and messages both, and pleased to boast loudly and musically about their beloved ocean – ultramarine and teal; wave – oilskin coat, carpenter’s tools, canvas sack of sea-treasure and stockfish, great net, whaletooth comb
43	Cats-Cradle	“When all you have left is each other, leave no one behind.” An informal, ever expanding network of the dispossessed, the down on their luck, and the overlooked in society, dedicated to distributing what they do acquire – any colours; tangle of yarn – patchwork wrap, collection of chapbooks, waterskin, half-dozen candlestubs, mark-code and chalk
44	Nightingale’s Voice	“Find the beauty in all things.” Artists and artisans, yes, and collectors of beautiful things when they can, yes; but beauty is also in a smooth grey pebble and the work of farmer’s gnarled hands, and they will make that known – white and sandy; songbird – unpublished play, whittled animal figurines, metal statuette, list of performers, glass beads
45	Bloomwrights	“All existence is as ephemeral as a drifting petal, so make your own meaning out of it.” For these connoiseurs of blossoms and cultivators of gardens, their handiwork reflects the way of all things, even life itself, fading away almost before it’s enjoyed — but that enjoyment is enough. – shell pink and gold; petal – pouch of seeds, fresh cuttings, flowers pressed in parchment, tiny bloom in a phial, wax tablet and stylus
46	Rill-Roamers	“We are the rivers that water the people all around us.” Communities are often flung far and wide across forbidding wilderness; and as long as they are, there will be a webwork on foot, by beast, and stranger still, carrying news and goods. – sky blue and tawny; wheel – sturdy boots, heavy cloak, annotated map, ciphered drop-off locations, letter of commendation
51	Fire-Eyes	“Yesterday already happened and tomorrow never comes, so enjoy today.” Whether hosting a revel or indulging in someone else’s festivities, keeping all involved happy, entertained and ready for more is the name of the game – orange and gold; stylized eye – extravagant outfit, amphora of wine, little scrolls of personal details, copper-fringed stole, written promise of gift
52	The Tapestry	“You see it coming together? The fibre, the thread, the warp, the weft? As the weaving, the world.” Ostensibly a cottage organization of spinners and weavers, and weave they do; but the average weaver doesn’t hide messages in the colours of skeins or the patterns of their cloths – gradations of a single colour; spindle whorl – handspindle, backstrap loom, several skeins, shoulderbag of roving, packets of dye
53	Longwatch	“None shall cross this threshold nor lay hands upon my charge while I draw breath.” Guardians of places, objects, relics, people, and even intangible oaths, pledged to do their utmost to keep their pledge safe even from themselves – ivory and steel; shield – padlock and key, brazier, stormcloak, sealed pledge, oath-ring
54	Prayerwalkers	“It’s about having something to believe in. Or someone.” Not as strictly spiritual as the name implies, so long as there is honest faith in a thing or a person, a faith that buoys the faithful as much after their travels as during them – deep rose and dark blue; heart – pilgrimage token, devotional ribbon, letters to the faithful, woolen mantle, shoulderbag
55	Roots Of The Wise	“There’s comfort and courageousness in gathering and spreading knowledge.” Scholars and taletellers, professional and traditional, united in their quest to learn whatever they can about whatever they can to pass it along their web and beyond – leaf green and ivory; cupped hand – memory-aid trinkets, manuscript-in-process, list of local fellows, fragments of ancient epic, restricted tome
56	The Pack	“We provide.” Hunters and trackers of frightful creatures and rightful game; the first brought low in defense of others, the second brought down to sustain them. – grey and orange; pawprint – snares, fur cloak, trail notes, hunting horn, pouch of marker-stones
61	Border Saints	“Reach out to those who just weren’t ready to walk away from the world.” Seekers of the dear and forgotten departed, for conversation, or just to let the dead touch the living world and be remembered – yellow-green and silver grey; bisected star – incense burner, paper and ink, records of the dead, anointing oil, candles
62	Zenith	“All good things come from the sun and its rays, and the sun teaches us temperance thereby.” Calm and cool-headed mediators, as well as ardent horticulturalists, bleachers of cloth and preservers of goods; all things in their proper measure, by their light. – copper and gold; sunburst – magnifying lens, parasol, handful of prisms, sitting pillow, scroll of personal musings
63	Woodspire	“Spread the forest’s reach by carrying its offspring afield and surrounding all with the warmth of its wood.” Inspired woodcrafters and carpenters that reject building in stone, whether structures or smaller creations, but best known for the seedlings they lovingly plant by their scores after felling a tree – brown and pine green; seedling – adze, set of chisels, handful of burlap-wrapped seedlings, willow basket, sack of acorn meal
64	The Ivory Key	“We all deserve to rest.” Buriers of the lost or broken dead, restorers of defiled graves and skeletal artisans who murmur reassuring verses over the bones they set carefully into place – ivory and white; skull – burial shroud, engraving burins, book of eulogies, folding trowel, bone prayer beads
65	Lightning Riders	“Don’t worry, we’ll get it; you have my word.” Others may carry messages or parcels, but these folks will get that request to its destination, or bring some other request back again, with the directness of a thunderbolt – pale yellow and dark blue; lightning bolt – wax-sealed letter, locked puzzle box, map to a crypt, annotated trail map, reinforced boots
66	Wardens Of Dream	“Anything can happen inside the dreaming worlds. Learn from that.” It’s not that dreams are believed to be as real, or more real, than the waking world, no; but spend enough time inside them, and what you experience can affect your waking world. – ivory and tawny brown; spiral horn – herbal-filled pillow, scrapbooked journal, dream-pearl, sketch of another dreamer, fleece mantle