Quick question: Does the drop in Tier caused by War affect only the PCs crew or all factions? In otherwords, does the PCs declaring war on a Weak hold Faction drop their tier?
Quick question: Does the drop in Tier caused by War affect only the PCs crew or all factions?
Quick question: Does the drop in Tier caused by War affect only the PCs crew or all factions?
I’d forgot about that.
It should affect all factions (within a reasonable Tier bracket). That having been said, some of the factions in the book are at Weak because they’re already at war, for example the Red Sashes and Lampblacks, so they should not be dropped own any further.
For non-PC factions, consider playing it by ear. I read the drop in Tier to mean that the faction has to dedicate a chunk of their resources to making moves and counter-moves in the background; clashes on the street, random acts of sabotage, etc. Maybe some gang members break off and lay low while at war, because they’re not loving the idea of getting shivved while picking up a bottle of goat milk.
Either way, a faction at war generally can’t motivate change or bring their full capacity to bear as easily as they could otherwise – but does it make sense for a Tier 0 faction to beleaguer a Tier 4 faction in the same way two Tier 2s might hinder each other?
Follow what your players are interested in seeing done. Last session, my group decided they wanted to start a war between Ulf Ironborn and the Billhooks in the Docks (with a longer-term view to taking over Ulf Ironborn’s territory). The players’ gang is still Tier 0, and Ulf is Tier 1 to start with, but they played out a successful score to bring this plan to life – of course I’m going to drop him down!
Jakob Oesinghaus Good point, thanks