I spent the weekend putting together the faction symbols of The Core. Graphic design is in no way my strong suit, but I’m relatively happy with the way the individual faction symbols turned out.
Those who read the previously uploaded Core campaign preview will notice that the Sundered are gone, replaced with the Iron Assembly, and that a number of spheres of influence have changed. This was brought about by an analysis of the faction roles in the Core.
(Shout out to Patrick Murray for his analysis of the problems the Sundered posed, and for helping me work out the seeds of this new distribution)
The Faction Distribution chart (below) maps out each faction’s sphere of influence, and the overarching aspect they share with like-minded factions. That’s not to say that neighboring factions don’t have conflict: In fact, there’s probably more room for conflict in the differences of approach and philosophy. Similarly, “opposed” factions can also share common themes or ideals (the Dai’Rho and Heirs of Taaj both appreciate art and music, for example, GalSec and Iron Assembly both resort to force when diplomacy fails, etc.)
I’ll have a more in-depth post about each symbol (plus a smattering of rejected icons) later in the week.
Nice!
Hm. I’m sad to see the Sundered go!
The Sundered presented an interesting problem; while all other factions were able to find common ground once in a while (thereby creating a tenuous balance of power), the “smash the state” of the Sundered put them at odds with all the other factions, a situation which would necessitate a significant power increase. Even the most forgiving projections eventually created a situation where the Sundered would quickly a) be wiped out by the combined might of the other factions, or b) create a state of open warfare (which would be wrong for the campaign setting)
Basically, the Sundered had nothing to offer the other factions and society as a whole, they had no leverage to keep the other factions from stomping them.
That said, a lot of the Sundered ideologies have been incorporated into the Iron Assembly or redistributed to the Dai’Rho. Specifically, the breaking of the Caste system is a shared goal of both of the “Community” factions (Dai’Rho using social pressure and rhetoric, Iron Assembly using threats and violence).
Basically, the Sundered re-branded and are now an essential part of the Core (who else mass-produces all the goods/tools that people need?) that can’t be stomped without causing significant problems.
This smells like Kickstarter stuff? I was outside the Kickstarter wave. What will the publication be called? I am willing to buy it in its most monetized form of course… 🙂
This part of Carta Galaxia, a campaign book. It will contain 4 campaign settings: The Core (faction politics), the Divide (inter-faction war zone), the Reach (exploration and colonization on the galactic frontier) and the Edge (human vs alien conflict).
It was the first Stretch Goal of the Kickstarter, and will definitely be available for purchase as a full-blown supplement.
You can check out the preview stuff here : https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xfb88cm2sa63x89/AACtrybBc8uRLM52uFt_nzdHa?dl=0