Factions Explained in a Nutshell

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I’ve sometimes wondered how to explain the factions in DTR to somebody new to the game. Law Dogs and Sloane make obvious sense, but some of the others take a little explaining.

Now, I’ve barely ever played D&D, but I think it shakes out like this…

Lawful Good: Law Dogs
Neutral Good: Eagle Wardens
Chaotic Good: 108 Righteous Bandits
Lawful Evil: Morgan Cattle Company
Neutral Evil: 4th Ring
Chaotic Evil: Sloane Gang

There, now you can help a curious newbie pick out their favorite alignment and get the game going without explaining that the Chinese Kung Fu guys actually represent the welfare of the common people of all races in contrast to the Law Dogs’ enforcement of order above all, and so on.

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Dunno about anyone else, but my Law Dogs are most definitely NOT Lawful Good. I traditionally end the game with about 3 bounty per Dude :slight_smile:

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Deadlands

I put this together close to when the game first came out.

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Hmm, I’d reverse 4R and TSG myself :smiley:
and remember each faction now has multiple outfits to choose from blurring lines even more

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reaches into the closet and dons the old but comfy roleplaying hat

It is hard to go by roleplaying alignments for each of the outfits. They can all use kidnappin or This is a Holdup, so none fit into the “good” portion. Technically, I would define the law dogs as something more along the lines of neutral good (bending the laws when necessary for the greater good) at best and lawful neutral (using the rules to get what they want) at worst.

Perhaps the quickest way to describe the factions is by stating a couple of keywords that are used by many of the outfits’ dudes.

Examples:
Lawdogs - punishing cheaters and blessed (buffing) magic.
Fourth ring - abominations, huckster (attack/control) magic.
Morgan - ranches, horses and gadgets.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it might be a way to quickly convey flavor.

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The Law/Chaos axis is much more important than the Good/Evil axis in a Western setting.

Don’t take this as official word from on high, but I envision the Wardens as LN, the Sloane Gang as CN, and the Fourth Ring as CE.