Allegiances

A character may have up to three allegiances. These allegiances are indications of what the character values in life, and may encompass people, organizations, or ideals. A character may have no allegiances (being either a free spirit or a lone wolf) or may change allegiances as he or she goes through life. Also, just because the character fits into a certain category of people doesn’t mean the character has to have that category as an allegiance.

If the character acts in a way that is detrimental to his or her allegiance, the GM may choose to strip the character of that allegiance (and all its benefits) and assign an allegiance more suitable to those actions.

NOTE: In this campaign, all characters start with an Allegiance to the Blackcloaks. The remaining two allegiances are yours to determine based on the following parameters.

Pledging Allegiance

A hero’s allegiance can take the form of loyalty to a person, to an organization, to a belief system, to a nation, or to an ethical or moral philosophy. In general, a character can discard an allegiance at any time, but may only gain a new allegiance by spending 3 Experience Points.

Allegiances include, but are not limited to, the following examples.

Organization: This may be a company or corporation, a gathering of like-minded individuals, a fraternal brotherhood, a secret society, a branch of the armed forces, a local, state, or national government, a university, an employer, or an otherwise established authority.

In Secret Wars, the major Secret Societies all count as Organization Allegiances

Nation: This may or may not be the nation that the hero currently resides in. It may be where the individual was born, or where the hero resides after emigrating to a new home.

Nations include not just the approximately 200 mortal nations of the Earth, but also supernatural nations such as the City of Jewels, Kingdom Under the Mountain, Court of Summer, or Kingdom Over Shadows.

Belief System: This is usually a particular faith or religion, but can also be a specific philosophy or school of thought. Belief systems could also include political beliefs or philosophical outlooks.

Allegiance Score

Your allegiances have a score attached to them. When you first pledge allegiance, you start with a Allegiance Score of 1. This represents a fresh recruit who hasn't really proven themselves to that allegiance. Others who share that allegiance with you acknowledge that you claim to share that allegiance, but they might not believe it.

As you adventure, you can spend you experience points to increase your allegiance score, representing your expanding reputation with that allegiance. You may also advance your score automatically by completing story quests and side quests associated with that allegiance.

The higher your allegiance score is, the more access you have to resources and allies from that allegiance.