Factions

Four warring Factions struggle for control of Britannia! Who's side will you join?

The Britannian Council of Mages Stronghold in Wind

Faction warfare on Oceania Classic has been redesigned and expanded.

Factions

To join a Faction, visit the stronghold of the one you wish to join and use the signup stone located near the entrance. You will be given a uniform to show your allegiance and will be able to join in the fight immediately.

Faction signup stones can also be found in the Moongate Hall.

True Britannians

The True Britannians are the loyal followers of Lord British. Their stronghold is Castle British in Britain.

Council of Mages

The Council of Mages are political opponents of Lord British's rule who were originally based on Verity Isle (Moonglow) and the now abandoned Isle of Magincia. They have since relocated their stronghold underground to the City of Mages, Wind.

Shadowlords

This Faction follows 3 evil demonic entities known as the Shadowlords. Their base is located in the Yew Crypts.

Followers of Minax

The Followers of Minax, or just Minax for short, support the vile Lady Minax in her attempts to overthrow her bitter enemy, Lord British. Their stronghold is located in Dragonhame Mountain, with the entrance located almost opposite to that of Dungeon Destard. The mountain can be found roughly halfway between the cities of Trinsic and Skara Brae.

Chaos Anti-Faction

Dismayed by the relentless war between the four Factions, Lord Blackthorn has ordered his Chaos troops to liberate captured cities and guard those which have declared neutrality. Chaos guards are hostile towards members of all four Factions. Chaos are based in Castle Blackthorn above Britain.

Note: Chaos in this context is the Anti-Faction and cannot be joined by players. It should not be confused with the separate version of Chaos which players can join as part of the Order vs Chaos guild warfare system.

Town Capture & Management

The cities of Trinsic, Moonglow, Yew, Skara Brae, and Ocllo can be captured and controlled by the Factions.

The Faction towns each have their own citizens, troops, and functioning economies.

Towns are captured by stealing the town Sigil, taking it back to your base, holding it for 2 hours to corrupt, and then placing it back in the respective town. The town is secured for an amount of time, after which point the Sigil can be stolen once again by a rival Faction member.

Stealing a Sigil requires either 80.0 in the Stealing skill or a pair of Gloves of Sigil Stealing (see below).

Citizens

Shadowlords chase a Minax player carrying a Sigil

A city's Civic Budget determines how many Citizens the city can support at any given time. Citizen populations of the cities will rise and fall on an twice (in-game) daily basis according to that city's Civic Budget. A city's Citizen population can be increased by adopting the Population strategy.

Citizens earn a daily income for their city and also incur daily maintenance costs.

The minimum and maximum amount an individual Citizen can earn is determined by a number of factors, such as the Health and Morale of their city and the city's population.

Citizens can be identified by the title "of [City]" after their names.

Faction Commanders can send silver to a city under their control to boost it's Civic Budget and thus increase the number of Citizens in the town.

City Troops

The size of the army guarding a city is determined by it's Military Budget. Cities which have no funds in their Military Budget will be undefended.

Troops incur upkeep costs which are withdrawn from the city's Military Budget, or the Treasury if the budget cannot afford it.

Killing enemy Faction Guards will reward the player with silver, Valor, as well as whatever else the guard may be carrying.

City Management

Faction Commanders can govern cities under their control.

Speak either the phrase "I wish to access the city treasury" whilst a Faction Commander and in a city under your control to access the town management options.

Tax Rate

Faction Commanders can set a city's tax rate. The tax rate determines the cost of items sold by most NPC vendors within the city.

Taxes of 0% to negative -10% can only be enacted when a city's Civic Budget is large enough to support these negative rates.

Citizens in cities with 0% to -10% Tax Rates will incur higher maintenance costs, thus putting more strain on the Treasury.

See Dynamic Vendor Economy for more information.

Faction Capital: Trinsic

The Faction Capital of Trinsic can be guarded by a large and powerful army of Faction Guards.

Capturing the capital rewards the successful thief with a very large amount of Valor and Silver.

Controlling Trinsic is required in order to purchase Dark or Silver Steeds.

Town Hitching Post

Town Hitching Posts can be found next to Town Stones and allow Faction members to purchase War Mounts.

War Mounts

True Brits War Horses

New War Mounts based on the original Faction War Horse have been added, some of which can only be purchased by either the two "good" OR the two "evil" Factions. Like the War Horse, the new War Mounts can be resurrected by their owner without the need for any Vet skill.

Valor Virtue

The Valor Virtue allows characters to buy from Town Stones and Valor Stones.

Characters can raise their Valor Virtue by taking part in Faction combat and stealing Sigils.

Taking a Sigil to a Faction Stronghold to corrupt will earn the thief a small amount of Valor points.

Returning a corrupted Sigil to a town, thus capturing it, will reward the thief with a larger amount of points, depending on the town. Trinsic is worth the most.

Gloves of Sigil Stealing

Gloves of Sigil Stealing are available as a reward from the Faction Garrison Donation Box for 1000 silver. They are also available as a reward from Valor Stones. These gloves allow a player to steal Sigils without the need for the Stealing skill whilst they are being worn. The wearer will also suffer a -10 penalty to Dexterity while the gloves are equipped, which also means they require at least 21 Dexterity to wear.

Temporary Skill Loss

Dying to an enemy Factioner will result in a 5 minute temporary skill loss of 33% for the victim.

Publish 49 Faction Changes

The four Factions have withdrawn from contesting the isolated Lost Lands as the war for Britannia’s future intensifies. They have also been forced to abandon further attempts to capture the capital city of Britain for the time being, as the large armies of both Order and Chaos stationed in such close proximity make securing the city nigh on impossible.

Five Britannian towns have become the main focus of fierce Faction fighting due to their strategic locations, with Skara Brae once again rejoining the fray, along with the battle-scarred cities of Trinsic, Ocllo, Moonglow, and Yew. Faction elections now elect both a Commander and a Sheriff in Britannia. The winner of the election becomes the Commander, with second place becoming the Sheriff, unless only one position is vacant, in which case the election winner will fill the vacant position.

Factions without leadership will now skip the days long election waiting period and will continue cycling through the campaign/voting process until someone runs for office and a Commander is elected.

Commanders and Sheriffs perform completely different jobs. Commanders are responsible for managing both their Faction and the towns under their control, while Sheriffs may hire and lead troops into battle.

Sheriffs can say “I am Sheriff” in any town to hire guards and check their upkeep. Faction guards may be placed in most towns by the Sheriff, including those not under their control and even in non-faction towns. The exceptions where guards cannot be placed are Britain, Wind, Jhelom, and Buc’s Den. This allows the Sheriff to lay claim to new towns (such as Minoc, Vesper, Cove, Nujel’m, etc…) by stationing guards where they wish, or even to launch attacks in towns held by enemy Factions.

Sheriffs can give orders to guards by saying “orders” near them. After the guards respond and stand at attention, follow up with an order such as “follow”, “patrol”, or “attack”. Guards will only follow/obey for a limited distance and amount of time before returning to their original station. Sheriffs may also fire guards (only the ones they have hired) by saying “you are fired”. The upfront cost and ongoing wages for each guard the Sheriff hires is paid for by their Faction’s treasury. The Commander is responsible for managing their Faction’s treasury and ensuring the Sheriff has enough to pay their troops. Unpaid troops will quit on the spot and vanish.

The town management system available to Commanders has been improved and expanded. Commanders can manage a town under their Faction’s control by saying “I wish to access the city treasury”. The Faction guide on the Wiki will be updated with more on this soon but much is now explained in-game.

Vendor prices in Faction towns are controlled by the Commander by setting the town’s tax rate. The higher the tax, the more income the town’s citizens can earn and the more vendors in the city will charge for items. Where a citizen’s income goes is determined by the town strategy set by the Commander, as well as the tithe rate they set on their Faction Stone at their HQ. The Faction tithe rate no longer applies to players, rather it sets how much of a town’s income is directed to it’s controlling Faction’s treasury and how much goes to the town’s own treasury.

Lord Blackthorn has been advised on the finer points of Faction warfare and city management and will now take personal charge of towns that fall under Chaos’ control.

Town Stones no longer sell items. Instead, they now display the Town Report when double clicked. This report can be viewed by anyone, even those not in a Faction.

Faction guards have been weakened somewhat, mostly by reducing their ability to bandage themselves. Also note that Sheriffs are limited to hiring melee and archery guards. The more powerful mage and cavalry guards remain exclusive to town garrisons, and even then are only likely to appear in significant numbers in Trinsic if/when it’s economy can support them. Indeed, Trinsic is the only place where cavalry guards appear.

There are now no guards inside Faction Strongholds, with their defence being left entirely to players.

Any member of a Faction may now use the “message faction” keyword, which was previously only available to Commanders, with a limit of 2 messages per minute.

As mentioned above, Faction members now benefit from a 20% bonus to their chance to gain skills while inside a town that is under their Faction’s control. Characters will not get the bonus while hidden.