Anarchist Background

Anarchist

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You are a member of the Revolutionary League, the underground movement that opposes the factions in Sigil under the idea that no person know the absolute Truth of things, and to pretend otherwise - as the Factions do - is to deliberately mislead others. Truth can only be found when we are truly free from the authorities that bind us.

Central Philosophy: No one knows the truth. Those who pretend to have alterior motives - mostly, power, control, and manipulation of others.

Skill Proficiencies: Deception
Tool Proficiency: Forgery Kit, Disguise Kit, Thieves’ Tools
Equipment: Disguise Kit, Thieves’ tools, forgery kit, a vial of alchemist's fire, a set of common clothes with some other faction’s insignia on them, and a belt pouch containing 10 gp

Feature: Anarchist Recruit

As a member of the Revolutionary League, you know of one refuge where you can go to discuss your philosophy and plans openly with other League members. You also have access to one other faction’s Sigil HQ as if you belonged to that faction – your job in the League is to spy on that other faction, and report back to your cell. You also know of a portal to the safe-house of The Bastion of Last Hope, on Carceri, and have a key to that portal.

Inspiration: No One Knows the Truth

If you gain a point of Inspiration for adhering to your faction philosophy, you may use it to quell the suspicions of another person — spend your Inspiration when asked to make a Deception check, and it is automatically successful.

Examples of actions that might earn you Inspiration may include

  • Refusing a leadership position you are granted.
  • Pointing out the lies of the powerful, at risk to yourself.
  • Lying when asked a question, though the truth would be more useful.

Ranks, Renown, and Attunement

  • You Don't Know Me (3 Renown - Namer): While attuned to your faction, you can cast disguise self without using components. The DC for the spell is 8 + your Proficiency bonus + your Charisma modifier, or 13, whichever is better.
  • Just Out Of Sight (6 Renown - Factotoum): While attuned to your faction, you have advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks that you make while within 5 ft. of cover or within an area granting concealment.
  • How The Mighty Have Fallen (9 Renown - Factor): While attuned to your faction, you deal an extra 2d6 damage when you hit a creature that has more hit points than you with a weapon attack.

About the Anarchists

The Revolutionary League, to most folks in Sigil, are a group of anti-Faction criminals and terrorists who seek to dismantle the Hall of Speakers and everyone in it. They are known to infiltrate official groups into the highest of levels and then, from within, they seek to bring the group down, weakening it and making it less powerful. Given the high stakes of the kriegstanz in Sigil, this is actually often a peace-keeping force. The reason the Xaositects and the Guvners aren't brawling in the streets is, in part, thanks to the Revolution. The organization as whole, though incredibly diverse, shares a central tenent: no oen knows the Truth of the Multiverse. The factions claim to know the Truth, but they're wrong, and their misguided manipulation is really just an act, used to trick others into believing their screed, so that they can control them and manipulate them to do their bidding.

The Revolutionary League has no one center in Sigil (this would make taking them out a rather simple matter for the factions), but rather a series of scattered safehouses and fronts in which individual cells can meet and disperse as necessary. Faction members seem to be able to find and recognize each other fairly reliably, even when not wearing the faction badge (which they rarely do - arguably, provocateurs posing as the Revolution wear the badge more!).

On the planes, the Revolution calls the paranoid, backstabbing plane of Carceri home - specifically a town called the Bastion of Last Hope. They see the prison plane as one of the multiverse's most egregious examples of the abuse of power - an entire plane dedicated to keeping those who question that power in check. The Revolution is happy to call creatures trapped here allies (though the creatures are often more ambivalent about that).

Suggested characteristics

The Anarchists are a suspicious lot, a little paranoid and in love with the covert. Their noble traits tend to emphasize the freedom that is possible in an individual, but they are just as interested in tearing down the lies of others.

d6 Primary Activity of your Cell
1 Recruitment: Your cell is tasked with gathering new members into the faction, without revealing your allegiance.
2 Faction Spy: Your cell has members placed in various factions, and reports their activities to others.
3 Saboteur: Architecture and explosives are the name of the game in your cell - bring low the symbols of power.
4 Rumor Mill: Your cell members are spin doctors, controlling the public debate around various faction activities.
5 Safehouse Securing: The members of your cell are responsible for finding - or making - new safehouses for faction members.
6 Chant-Broker: Your cell is the ear to the street, gathering information from common folk and passing on what's useful.

d8 Personality Trait
1 I lie about almost everything, even when there's no good reason to.
2 When I set my mind to something, I follow through no matter what gets in my way.
3 I treat everyone as if they could betray me at any moment, including my allies.
4 I find that if you're confident enough, no one questions you, so I act VERY confident.
5 I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide.
6 I am tight-lipped about even trivial details about myself. The less others know about me the better.
7 I always have a plan for what to do when things go wrong.
8 I can't help but take credit for some of my more successful plots - they are pretty amazing.

d6 Ideal
1 Freedom. The main problem with other factions is that they demand your loyalty to false ideals. You want to free others from the bounds of this misguided trust. (Chaotic)
2 Equality. We are all equal human beings, so it is wrong for others to have control over us - allegiance to another is just voluntary slavery. (Neutral)
3 Destruction. Some people just want to watch the city burn. By some people, I mean me. (Evil)
4 Truth. We can't find the real cosmic Truth with all these lies controlling the show. Lets see what comes out when they don't. (Any)
5 Independence. No one tells me what to do - and woe to those who try. (Chaotic)
6 Charity. The only way to make society better is to change those who control it. (Good)

d6 Bond
1 My cell is like my family - we squabble, but we have each others' backs.
2 I've offended a powerful person with my activities, and that person specifically seeks retribution on me.
3 I want the powerful to fear the mention of my name, and the destitute to praise it with hope.
4 Someone in a specific faction killed someone I loved - my mission is vengeance, against them and all their type.
5 One of my identities has a family, and I hide my activities from them.
6 I'm currently on the run from the law in Sigil, thanks to a scheme gone wrong.

d6 Flaw
1 It's easy to get a rise out of me - I don't hide my fury well.
2 For me, the ends justify the means.
3 I have a contrary instinct - if someone tells me what to do, I immediately want to do the opposite.
4 I don't want to rely on others. If I want something done right, I have to do it myself.
5 I'm convinced that no one could ever fool me the way I fool others.
6 I can't resist needling the pompous and powerful. My tongue seems to have a mind of its own.

Anarchist Adventure Ideas

Apprentice Tier: Defining Your Belief

At low levels, striking against the Lawful factions is an easy way to show what you believe in. You may have to delve into the belly of the Fraternity of Order by impersonating one of its members to retrieve a secret kept hidden there that will be critical to a Revolutionary League plot, you may disrupt a Harmonium training session with an act of property damage, or you might expose the crimes of an off-the-books Mercykiller group to the Harmonium to encourage them to fight against each other.

Heroic Tier: Defending Your Belief

After a few successful operations, the retribution comes. You might get arrested by the Harmonium, have to survive trial by the Guvners, or have to escape the Prison. Other factions might also get involved - the Sign of One may try to create a world without you in it, or the Fated might try to claim credit for your earlier actions. You may also face off against other folks with an invested interest in keeping others complacent, such as a merchant lord in Sigil or a noble from some Prime world.

Paragon Tier: Questioning Your Belief

People all over the planes are beginning to accept the idea that no faction really has the truth - that they're all interested only in their own power. The factions - especially the Lawful ones - start hemorrhaging members. But there are consequences to this action. You might have to restore peace to the streets of a Sigil suddenly without law and order. You might have to define what meaning the Revolutionary League can have when the factions are gone. And you may have to defend yourself against - or surrender to - cells that are convinced that YOU'RE manipulating others for selfish purposes.

Epic Tier: Establishing Your Belief

The factions are falling apart, and people are exploring more unusual ideas about what truth might be. The final vestiges of powerful factions seek to strike at the heart of this collapse - you. You will likely have to defend yourself from attacks from powerful planar allies of the factions. You might face mad and dangerous new ideas about Truth given relevance now that all ideas are equally valid. You may even see powerful entities of control and order - perhaps even the Lady of Pain herself - give way in the face of the strength of your ideas.