Nobody rides alone forever. Sooner or later every gunhand throws in with a cause, a creed, or a crew. Your faction is the banner you ride under. It bends who you are, sharpens what you are good at, and grows stronger as you climb. Pick it well. Out here, a person is known by the company they keep and the chip they carry.
What a Faction Is
Your faction is one of the two big choices that shape your character, the other being your class. Faction answers the question of who you stand with. It is marked at the table by your faction hex chip, and it grants you attribute bonuses from the moment you build your character. As you level, your faction rewards your loyalty with milestone perks at Level 6 and again at Level 12.
Do not confuse your faction with your class. Faction is who you ride with and it sets your bonuses. Class is how you fight and it sets which special cards you can carry. You choose one of each, and any faction can pair with any class. A Lawman can be a Sharpshooter; an Outlaw can be a Physician. The mix is yours.
The Eight Factions
There are eight factions, each with its own bonuses. The table below shows what each grants at character creation. Some give raw attribute points, others give a standing edge that never leaves you.
| Faction | Creation Bonus |
|---|---|
| Lawman | +1 Smart / +1 Charming |
| Outlaw | +2 Sharp |
| Gunslinger | +1 Charming / +1 Sharp |
| Native | +1 Agile / +1 Speed |
| Soldier | +1 Tough / +1 Charming |
| Rebel | +1 Smart, and start the game with 1 extra defense chip |
| Ninja | +1 Agile, and ignore the Object penalty |
| Samurai | +1 Smart / +1 Speed |
The Rebel and the Ninja carry perks that are not raw attribute points. The Rebel walks in with an extra defense chip already in the stack, a free bit of insurance. The Ninja ignores the Object penalty, meaning rough ground and obstacles do not slow their movement the way they slow everyone else. Small edges, but they define how these two play.
Milestones: Level 6 and Level 12
Loyalty pays, and it pays in chips. When your character reaches Level 6, your faction rewards you with chips. Reach Level 12 and it rewards you again, usually with more. These are not permanent buffs bolted onto your sheet. They are chips dropped into your stack, fuel for the ante-up economy, earned for riding under one banner all the way up.
| Faction | Level 6 Chips | Level 12 Chips |
|---|---|---|
| Lawman | +1 Card in Hand | +1 Card in Hand & +1 Damage |
| Outlaw | +1 Inventory | +1 Inventory & +1 Damage |
| Gunslinger | +1 Gold per Kill | +2 Gold per Kill |
| Native | +1 Movement | +1 Movement & +1 Action |
| Soldier | +1 Damage | +1 Range & +1 Damage |
| Rebel | +1 Damage | +1 Action & +1 Damage |
| Ninja | +1 Damage | +1 Action & +1 Movement |
| Samurai | +1 Defense | +1 Action & +1 Card in Hand |
Read these as chips, not permanent stats. A milestone that reads plus one Defense means you receive a Defense chip; plus one Action and plus one Card means you receive an Action chip and a Card chip. The Card chip is spent during the Draw phase to draw an extra card, a small mercy when your hand of four runs thin. Every milestone is more ammunition for the same stack you spend in a gunfight.
Reading Your Faction
Play to your banner. An Outlaw with +2 Sharp is built to shoot; lean into range and aim. A Native with bonus Agile and Speed is built to move; use ground others cannot. A Soldier stacks Tough and Damage for a straight fight. Your faction is a strong hint at how your character wants to be played, but it is only half the story. Pair it with the right class and you become something the frontier has never seen.
Milestones are a promise the frontier makes to those who endure. A green recruit and a Level 12 veteran might wear the same faction chip, but the veteran has been paid in blood and perks for every mile. Ride under one banner long enough and it starts to ride under you.