COLONIZERS
The colonizer faction consists of those who are trying to rebuild a stable society. They depend on community and team work, creating settlements for themselves. The colonizers focus on developing a safe and self-sustaining environment in hopes of overcoming the virus through societal advancement and repopulation.
FEATURES
Colonists are known for their colonies, which are often walled off and reinforced with whatever junk its inhabitants can find, being mostly sheet metal or plywood. Within these walls, one would find makeshift shelters, with homemade gardans and, if they managed to salvage any, occasionally livestock. Whether it's a well or a rain catching system upon their roofs, colonies also usually own some sort of fresh water supply. Each colony has its own unique culture and code, as every leader has a different approach to meeting the same goal.
REPUTATION
Though the colonists are viewed as one of the most promising factions, they get a bad rap for their unwillingness to welcome most outsiders. Colonies typically don't let strangers inside unless it's for good reason, and others may find it selfish of them to hoard all their good stuff and hog up so much space while doing it.
GOAL
This faction's goal is to secure a self-sustaining environment that is safe from Nightmares.
ROLES
Every colony has at least one leader, who is in charge of organizing settlement efforts. Some colonies may also have an advisor at the leader's side or some other form of council, though that is at the leader's discretion. Within the walls, each individual has their own role to play around the settlement, usually shared by family units. Some tend to crops, others divide up rations, and occasionally there may be midwifes and doctors. For duties outside of the walls, scouts are sent out. These scouts gather necessary resources, scout out potential hazards or opportunities around them, and most importantly, perform reconnaissance on neighbors and Nightmares. Usually, scouts are assigned based on their expendability, as it is the most endangered role within the colony.
GUNNERS
The gunner faction is essentially what's become of military-affiliated personnel, all of whom armed themselves from day one. They have big guns and armored vehicles to go with it -- some makeshift, others military. This faction contains a tight-knit community that thrives from the training of its individuals. Most members have military experience, and those who don't had been sworn in by an existing member and underwent in-faction training.
FEATURES
Gunners can be located within a gunner camp, often gated off with watchtowers constructed from whatever building materials they could find. Each gunner camp has an impressive armory and vehicle collection. Some camps have tents, some have barracks, some have shacks; usually, the camp is uniform throughout, with either one or the other as opposed to a mixture of shelters.
REPUTATION
Much like colonizers, gunners have gained a reputation for alienating outsiders. Though some gunner camps have open recruitment, most do not and instead operate on an invite-only recruitment from existing members. However, the gunners are known primarily for their possession of the majority of firearms nationwide. This gives the gunners a powerful presence, often intimidating other survivors in the area, regardless of how humanitarian the faction's members actually are. Many also criticize the gunners for being "stuck in their ways," hopelessly holding out for a government that may or may not still prevail.
GOAL
The goal of this faction is to get into contact with the government, if there indeed still is one, while defending their ranks.
ROLES
The gunners follow the usual army ranking system, only modifying "enlisted" members' duties. For example, Private First Class is usually tasked with food-running operations alongside an overseeing Corporal [anyone w/ legitimate military knowledge, correct me if I'm wrong!]. These modifications extend up the ranks to better suit their operations. Generally, the higher up the ladder one is, the safer their duties are.
HIDERS
The hiders are a faction that relies upon secrecy. They utilize camouflage, diversion, and intricate tunnel systems in order to get around and survive during these trying times. Hiders are characterized by their resourcefulness and abstract survival techniques, being a faction whose members are the least likely to encounter Nightmares.
FEATURES
The hider faction has very few visible structures. Much of their work has been done in an "underground" environment, developing hidden tunnels and passageways that allow its members to get around undetected. This route system usually connects to a designated safe house: a fortified location for members to regroup come nightfall, usually located around the center of their system.
REPUTATION
Often referred to as ants or tunnel rats, the hiders are well known for their navigational prowess. Generally, hiders aid outsiders, act as guides to those unfamiliar with the area, and openly invite others to take shelter alongside them, regardless of faction affiliation. Though their reputation is overall quite positive thanks to their eager-to-help nature, many also view their approach to surviving the apocalypse as cowardly and "the easy way out," openly mocking their ways.
GOAL
The goal of the hider faction is simple: create a working system of routes to ensure safe passage between key locations in order to successfully operate around the widespread Nightmares.
ROLES
Hiders have a very simple and community-driven system. Rather than dish out a list of particular roles to each individual, the hiders operate on a volunteer basis. For the duration of the day, depending on the size of the local faction hub, one to five members volunteer to look after the safe house and defend it from intruders -- both human and mutant. These daytime volunteers are also responsible for conducting a headcount, ensuring that everyone within the group makes it back to the safe house by dusk. Those who aren't holding down the fort scavenge for supplies and the like. Overnight, night watch rotates between shifts in order to maximize each individual's rest time.
HUNTERS
The hunters are a haughty faction that takes pride in their efforts to reduce the prevalence of Nightmares. As their name suggests, individuals within this faction actively hunt down Nightmares. Some do it for sport, others do it to seek justice, and many see it as the only way to overcome this state of life in the long term. This faction has the highest mortality rate.
FEATURES
Being an unstructured faction, there aren't any widespread structures that might define the presence of a hunter. In general, the only way to identify a hunter is to see one in action.
REPUTATION
The hunters are responsible for discovering most of what the populace knows about what will and will not kill a Nightmare. As such, they are often revered as a revolutionary group that inspires others. That said, hunters are also known to be overwhelmingly arrogant and unpredictable. Though they are a fearsome faction, they are just as much suicidal as they are inspirational.
GOAL
Hunters aim to eradicate Nightmares, hoping to restore balance to nature by eliminating man's only predator.
ROLES
There is only one type of hunter: the kind that kills. The hunter faction consists primarily of individuals, with no real structure to their ranks. More often than not, hunters will operate in pairs or even groups, but everyone has the same objective.
MERCS
Rather than allow themselves to be controlled by their circumstances, the merc faction flips the situation on its head and takes advantage of it. Mercs are an opportunistic bunch, having secured a sort of economy in response to the outbreak. They barter for supplies and offer up their labor in exchange for necessities as well, earning them their name.
FEATURES
Most mercs dwell within a makeshift marketplace, similar to a flea market, with miscellaneous junk laying out on display and its members relaxing behind jury-rigged stands. The area is usually fortified to keep out Nightmares, but safety is never ensured. Mercs are known for dwelling in locations with high foot traffic or highly sought-after resources, such as salt deposits, or, around the costal regions, harbors.
REPUTATION
Mercs have a mixed reputation. Many regard them as greedy hoarders, keeping valuable resources for themselves and conducting trades in a biased environment. Others, though, see the group more for their mercenary work than their marketplace. Their acceptance of goods for labor makes them a well-sought after group for dirty jobs and messy operations.
GOAL
The merc faction has no long term goal. Simply put, this faction is reaping the benefit of securing sought-after goods and exchanging them for other necessities rather than fetching supplies themselves.
ROLES
Usually, a merc marketplace has one or two toll collectors, who secure one non-essential good before allowing outsiders to enter. Inside their walls exists numerous sales-folk, which encompasses the majority of the faction's members. There also exists one orchestrator, who manages the acceptance and disbanding of new booths and members.
RAIDERS
Being the least reputable faction, raiders are known for their frequent robbery. This group throws around their weight and threatens others in order to take resources for themselves, sometimes even backing out on their promises not to harm those who cooperate. These are the criminals of society, taking advantage of those weaker than their ranks and looting whatever resources they can find. It is as a result of this faction that survivors rarely leave their belongings unattended.
FEATURES
Raiders often claim their territory by graffitiing their group's mark onto whichever property they've secured for themselves. This usually branches out from a camp or hangout spot and into the streets they terrorize. Marked stop signs, billboards, and the like all warn outsiders that they're in raider territory.
REPUTATION
The raiders are well-feared, and rightfully so. They are known to terrorize survivors, instilling a feeling of insecurity, as survivors have to be concerned over not only the infected, but the uninfected as well. Nearly everyone outside of this faction carries distain for the raiders.
GOAL
The raider faction seeks only to achieve the best possible survivability for themselves, even if it means putting others at risk.
ROLES
This faction operates in groups that usually max out at around ten members, though there may be some outliers. These groups are led by one, or occasionally multiple, ringleader. This ringleader is the face of the group and runs the show, acting as the final decision maker. Following this ringleader are his or her lackeys, which consists of the entirety of the rest of the group. Every once in a while, one may find a raider group that has a more organized structure, but typically, this faction operates on whims rather than systems.
FACTIONLESS
The factionless are, quite simply, anyone and everyone who does not affiliate with any particular faction. They go their own way, creating their own rules and working towards their own goal. Though a small portion of the factionless are individuals who were kicked out of a faction, a majority are just people acting on their own accord, with or without a group to support them.
REPUTATION
Given that a large portion of survivors have no faction, this group is as diverse as it gets. Some are good, and some are bad, and that's that. The factionless sit on neutral ground, being judged on an individual basis as opposed to the generalization present amongst factions.