Faction Guide Factions

This is an ongoing project for adapting the factions and sects of Planescape to the Pathfinder mechanics presented in the Faction Guide. Some of these materials are reproduced from the Faction Guide.

General Faction Rules

The following resources and benefits apply to all factions. A character gains prestige award (PA) by accomplishing the faction's goals. Depending on the significance of a goal, it will be worth between 1 PA (for a minor, but still meaningful task) to 5 PA (for an extremely difficult or significant act that advances the faction's interests). PA can also be lost if the character acts significantly against the faction: revealing secrets, betraying fellow members, allying with an enemy faction, and the like.

Each character simultaneously has two scores: Total PA (TPA) and Current PA (CPA). TPA represents a character's current standing in a faction, while CPA represents favors or markers the character can call in. TPA requirements merely represent minimum values, while CPA is spent when used on a benefit. When a character gains PA, both scores increase by that amount; CPA spent cannot otherwise be regained. Benefits from CPA are intended to be purely for the person spending the CPA — any CPA spent on a third party has its cost increased by 1.

Benefits

Beyond all other benefits, for every 10 points of TPA, the character gains a +1 Diplomacy bonus for all interactions with their faction. In dealing with allied factions, a character gains this benefit as if their TPA score was half, and may buy and sell goods through that faction as if their TPA score was half. If a character's faction allegiance is public, then the initial attitude of a member of the enemy faction starts one step worse than normal, and for every 10 points of TPA the character gains a -1 Diplomacy penalty to interactions with members of enemy factions.

• 1 TPA: +4 to K:Factions and Sects for any checks related to the character's faction or allied factions, and with an hour of research +4 to K:Planes for any checks related to planes where the character's faction has a significant presence (i.e., Arborea for Sensates, Negative Quasi planes for the Doomguard, etc.)
• 5 TPA: Receive passage from a faction stronghold to Sigil or vice versa.
• 10 TPA: Acquire the title of factor.
• 10 TPA, 1 CPA: Purchase a map of an area of any plane where the character's faction has a significant presence.

TPA Cost	GP
4	500 gp
9	1,500 gp
13	3,000 gp
18	5,250 gp
22	8,000 gp
27	11,750 gp
31	16,500 gp
36	23,000 gp
40	31,000 gp
45	41,000 gp
49	54,000 gp
54	70,000 gp
58	92,500 gp
63	120,000 gp
67	157,500 gp

Purchases

When in Sigil or a faction stronghold, the following sorts of equipment can always be purchased from a character's faction regardless of TPA: equipment from the Equipment chapter of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook (including equipment made from special materials, such as mithral); +1 weapons, armor, and shields; and 0- or 1st-level oils, potions, and scrolls at caster level 1.

For any other equipment, the player must have a certain minimum TPA to purchase it from the faction.

Weekly Services

CPA Cost	Benefit
1	Mounts (light riding horse, camel, mule, or pony) for the PC and up to one companion per level
1	Work detail of 50 1st-level commoners
1	Skilled craftsman (expert of ½ the faction member’s level)
2	Bodyguard (warrior of 1/2 the faction member’s level)
2	Caravan travel (crossplanar transport for the PC and up to 20 others; includes a crew of 10 1st-level experts)
2	Squad of 10 1st-level warriors
2	Combat trained ground mounts (light or heavy warhorses or riding dogs) for the PC and up to one companion per level
4	Combat trained unusual mounts (flying or swimming animals) for the PC and up to one companion per level

Services requiring NPCs or animals include appropriate gear for their class and level and all living expenses for them. For double CPA cost, these NPCs serve for up to 1 month. The character is expected to return any NPCs or mounts and their gear to the faction when finished with them. If the PC returns less than 50% of the mounts, gear, or NPCs acquired, she loses 1 TPA (and 3 TPA if none are returned).

Spellcasting

CPA Cost	Benefit
1	dispel magic, gentle repose, lesser restoration, make whole, remove blindness/deafness, remove curse, remove disease, remove paralysis, sending
2	atonement (8 CPA to restore cleric/druid powers), break enchantment, cure critical wounds, divination, greater dispel magic, neutralize poison, overland flight, restoration (4 CPA to dispel a permanent negative level), scrying
4	analyze dweomer, greater scrying, regenerate
5	commune, contact other plane, legend lore
7	teleport object, vision
10	teleport
15	plane shift
16	greater restoration, raise dead
18	discern location
20	greater teleport
75	soul bind

Miscellaneous Expenses

• 1 CPA: +4 to one skill check
• 1 CPA: Purchase a single item worth 375 gp.
• 1 CPA: Wealthy cost of living for 1 month - The PC has a sizable home or a nice suite of rooms in a fine inn. He can secure any nonmagical item worth 5 gp or less from his belongings in his home in 1d10 minutes, and need only track purchases of meals or taxes in excess of 10 gp.
• 2 CPA: Purchase a single item worth 750 gp.
• 2 CPA: Extravagant cost of living for 1 month - The PC lives in a mansion, castle, or other extravagant home—he might even own the building in question. This is the lifestyle of most aristocrats. He can secure any nonmagical item worth 25 gp or less from his belongings in his home in 1d10 minutes. He need only track purchases of meals or taxes in excess of 100 gp.
• 5 CPA: Retrieval of a dead body to a faction-controlled location; this cost may be increased depending on the location of the body.

Items in excess of 750 gp cannot be purchased with CPA unless explicitly mentioned in the faction description.

Mercykillers

Joining

Joining the Mercykillers is a simple matter. Enlistment is held at the Prison once a fortnight, with applicants only needing to present themselves. After a day of discussion of the Eight Tenets, and a brief check to ensure the applicant has no criminal history, the applicant must swear to each of the Tenets. After this, they are officially considered a Mercykiller.

Gaining Prestige

Tracking down or capturing criminals and enforcing justice is key to assent in the Mercykillers, and anything that advances these can give a character prestige in the faction. In addition, each fortnight's work on duty at the Prison earns 1 PA, as well as each level gained in paladin, antipaladin, or inquisitor.

Resources

Though the Mercykillers have a heavy Sigilian presence, the majority of their duties are focused outside the faction. Their largest stronghold outside Sigil is the city of Vorkehan in the plane of Acheron, but they have many small fortresses and outposts throughout the lawful planes, as well as a few dotting the Outlands. Most large cities outside the Chaotic planes have at least some Mercykiller presence.

• 1 TPA: Study with one of the faction's spellcasters to add to a Mercykiller's repetroire. This counts as library access with regard to learning spells with the electricity or law descriptors.
• 1 TPA: Gain access to the faction's law libraries; with one hour of research, gain a +4 bonus to one Knowledge check with regard to a question of the laws of some society.
• 5 TPA, 2 CPA: Receive training over the course of two weeks to learn greater, more effective interrogation techniques. The mercykiller receives a permanent +4 bonus to Intimidate to influence attitude.
• 10 TPA, 1 CPA: Transcribe a common spell with the electricity or law descriptor to the Mercykiller's spellbook or formula book.
• 10 TPA, 1 CPA: Receive legal assistance from the Mercykillers for violation of the law in pursuit of a criminal, freeing the mercykiller from prison or punishment with no consequences. Each time the character calls upon this resource, the CPA cost doubles.
• 15 TPA: Gain the option of taking the title of Justicar. She must take on a quest to track down and capture or slay a significant criminal. The Justicar also gains a warrant of binding, which functions as a hold monster spell that bypasses SR against the target when the Justicar is within 20 feet. A Justicar gains Diplomacy bonuses or penalties as if their TPA score is double, all CPA costs related to finding her quarry are reduced by 1, and all PA gains for capturing the criminal are doubled. If her target is captured, she must choose a new target or relinquish the title, and if she ever fails in her task (e.g., abandoning her hunt), she immediately loses 5 PA. If another organization or nation legally imprisons the Justicar's quarry in a fashion approved by the Justicar, then her quest can be considered completed, but the Justicar gains no PA for the accomplishment.
• 15 TPA, 2 CPA: Transcribe an uncommon or rare spell with the electricity or law descriptor to the Mercykiller's spellbook or formula book.
• 15 TPA, 5 CPA: Gain one dose of blood of justice.
• 15 TPA, variable CPA: Purchase or upgrade magical weapons from the following list at a 10% discount: axiomatic, conductive, huntsman, merciful, shock, shocking burst, thundering, vicious, vorpal.
• 20 TPA, 3 CPA: Gain the temporary service of a lawful outsider of up to 12 HD as if using planar binding. The Mercykiller must negotiate and pay for the outsider's service, though she can spend points from her CPA to have her order pay the price for the service. If the Mercykiller is a poor negotiator, she can pay 1 CPA to hire a charismatic advocate to argue on her behalf.

Feats

Justice Blow

Mercykillers can strike deadly blows in the name of justice.

Prerequisites: Mercykillers 10 TPA.

Benefit: Once per day, a mercykiller may deliver a justice blow to an enemy. As a swift action, the Mercykiller chooses one target within sight to strike with the force of justice. If this target is known to the mercykiller as a lawbreaker, the mercykiller adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her class level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of justice blow is an outsider with the chaos subtype or is the character's Justicar quarry, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, justice blow attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess. On a successful application of justice blow, the mercykiller recieves damage equal to half her class level (rounded down).

In addition, while justice blow is in effect, the mercykiller gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the blow. If the paladin targets a creature that is not known by the mercykiller as a lawbreaker, the blow is wasted with no effect.

The justice blow effect remains until the target of the blow is dead or the next time the mercykiller rests and regains her uses of this ability.

If the character has a "smite" class ability, then rather than once per day this ability instead counts from their total smites per day.

Know Lies

To better determine how justice should be served, the Red Death has learned to know when someone is lying.

Prerequisites: Mercykillers 10 TPA.

Benefit: Sense Motive is always a class skill for you, and you may cast discern lies against any question once per day.

Lightning Justice

Nothing better represents the shock of a Mercykiller's strike than a blast of lightning.

Prerequisites: Mercykillers 20 TPA, Empower Spell, Spellcraft 7 ranks.

Benefit: Add +1 to the DC for all saving throws against spells that deal electricity damage. In addition, you may use the Empower Spell metamagic feat on one spell with the electricity descriptor once a day without preparing it ahead of time, using a higher level spell slot, or increasing the casting time.

References

• Faction Guide
• Factol's Manifesto
• PSCS 3.0/3.5