RPGs often have the player become embroiled in many conflicts, usually taking one side or the other, but sometimes taking a third option and getting a totally different outcome. Many RPGs contain expansive faction systems which allow the player to become involved in events both large and small.

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While some RPGs allow the player to join factions and progress quite far through their ranks, even becoming the faction leader, others take a more distant approach and keep the player at arm's length. Many RPGs contain factions of some kind as, they're popular with players and offer good ways to shape the narrative. Here are a coillection of RPGs with the best faction systems.

10 Age Of Decadence

Pick A Team and Stick To It

Age of Decadence is a gritty post-apocalyptic CRPG set in a low-fantasy world many years after a brutal collapse. The faction system is a key part of the game, with players beginning as a member of one of a number of factions, all of which change their ability to interact with the game world and its various characters.

From merchants and thieves to guardsmen to scholars, Age of Decadence offers rich gameplay and quest lines based around the game's many factions, so it's always an interesting choice when it comes to deciding which faction to align with, as it will often reshape the game's narrative.

9 The Outer Worlds

Not The Best Choice, It's Spacer's Choice

A single player space RPG set in a faraway solar system, Obsidian's The Outer Worlds features an array of sci-fi corporatocracies in a race to the bottom as resources dwindle and society flounders under a regime of over-exploitation and mismanagement. It a dark and often comedic take on spacefaring capitalism.

The player can make all sorts of choices when it comes to siding with factions large and small, whether that's becoming a corporate shill and seeking out the high life, or doing something completely unexpected. The game's mutually exclusive options allow for multiple playthroughs that all feel different, each affected by the player's choices, which is a nice bonus.

8 Mount And Blade 2: Bannerlord

Forge A New Kingdom

Set in a world facing a dark age during the collapse of a continent-spanning empire, Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord has a diverse offering of factions for players to join or fight against, as well as various merchant groups to start trading with.

Each of the major factions can supply different kinds of troops, and has an overall different culture and feel, making aligning with them a real strategic choice. That's not all, since players can decide not to join any of the factions and instead carve out a new kingdom of their own.

7 GreedFall

Colonialism Or No Colonialism

GreedFall is an RPG set on a faraway island nation in a fantasy world beset by plague and war. With six different factions, each with a unique culture, playstyle, and overall attitude to the world, GreedFall has a lot of options for players to consider.

Many of the factions are directly involved in the exploitation of Tir Fradee, the game's island setting, although notably, the faction of islanders isn't. However, the conflict between factions runs even deeper, as there are big questions of faith versus rationality, magic versus science, and other ethical conflicts which give players greater room for roleplaying when it comes to their choice of faction, and the effects that choice will result in.

6 ELEX

Wizards, Techno-Wizards, Or Anarchists

• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
• Release Date: October 17, 2017
• Developer: Pirahna Bytes
• Genre: Action RPG

Gothic and Risen developers Piranha Bytes came out with ELEX, an open world RPG set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi/fantasy world years after a cataclysm, in 2017. With rich worldbuilding and a great setting, ELEX offers players the choice between three main factions, each with its own unique theme, culture, and bonuses.

Playing as part of each faction feels different, especially thanks to unique weapons, abilities, and play-styles being locked to each faction. These factions all have good involvement in the main quest, making each one play differently, adding to the overall feel of the faction system and their connection to the game world.

5 Tyranny

Evil With Perks

Tyranny is a unique RPG whose major conceit is that evil already won, and that's just how the world is. Players are given the opportunity to do incredibly evil things during the course of the game in service to the world's tyrannical emperor, as well as somewhat less evil choices, but at no time is the world presented as a nice one.

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The faction system, in many ways, represents that extremely well, with players receiving positive or negative reputation with various factions depending on the choices they make in-game. With ten tracked factions, there's a lot on offer, and faction reputation can lead to powerful bonuses and narrative consequences, making the choice of which factions to please an important one.

4 Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire

Factions Galore

Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the sequel to Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity, comes with a richly-realized faction system. Quests are designed so that they can be completed in a variety of ways, each with its own positive and negative effects on faction reputation.

With an array of major, minor, and location-based factions, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire offers a fantastic RPG faction system for players to sink their teeth into, featuring bonuses such as a magical submarine as one faction reward. Obsidian has shown good form when it comes to their faction systems, so perhaps it isn't so surprising that Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire does it so well.

3 Kenshi

Go Your Own Way

Kenshi is a unique, almost totally structureless RPG which offers its players mountains of freedom to build their own narrative. This approach shines through in all aspects of the game, from its base-building system, to its quests, and even its faction system.

Although there are many factions for players to work with and around, players belong to their own faction which they can build according to their own wants and whims, and watch as it interacts with the other factions in the game world.

2 Fallout: New Vegas

The Biggest Geopolitical Conflict Since The Great War

Developed as a spin-off game after the success of Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas is the only mainline, 3D Fallout game not developed by Bethesda - it was an Obsidian project. Set in the post-post-apocalyptic world of America's Midwest, Fallout: New Vegas has numerous factions for players to become involved with, both large and small.

Some factions have only local relevance, such as the Freesiders, or the settlers at Novac, but others such as the New California Republic or Caesar's Legion, have massive, world-spanning reach with consequences to match. New Vegas requires players to take a side against at least one of the game's major factions, presenting players with interesting and difficult choices.

1 The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Messy Politics And Ancient Rivalries

Bethesda's first 3D RPG set in the sprawling Elder Scrolls universe, Morrowind was, in many ways, a blueprint for smash-hit games like Skyrim and Fallout 4. With a story and lore that still holds up even against modern examples, it's no surprise that Morrowind is still firmly a fan favorite.

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Morrowind has a rich and complex faction system filled with competing groups - and even some factions with exclusivity. The factions are responsive to player choices and allow progression through their ranks, and some choices made for one faction will influence or block progression outright in another. Some fans consider Morrowind to be the best implementation of factions in a Bethesda game, and it's easy to see why.

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