Faction System

The Faction System was a broad organized-PvP system designed to promote large-scale player conflict within the society of Britannia, active in UO from the late-1990s through September 25, 2014. Four Factions — True Britannians, Council of Mages, Minax, and Shadowlords — competed for control of eight Felucca cities through a Town Sigil capture-and-corrupt mechanic, faction-only equipment vendors, weekly elected leadership, and a global mutual-aggression PvP rule. The system was retired with Publish 86 in favor of the simpler Vice vs Virtue PvP system, but its legacy items, decorations, and lore remain a key piece of Britannian heritage.

The four Factions and their lore

True Britannians

They follow the teachings of Lord British. Their base is Castle Britannia in Britain.

The Loyalists. Aligned with British's Eight Virtues, the rule of law, and the Royal Guard. Sigil-defenders by ideology — they fight to preserve the realm's existing order against all three opposing Factions.

Council of Mages

A good-natured Faction that has issues following the teachings of Lord British. Their base is the Parliament Building in Magincia.

The rebels-of-conscience. Founded after the Council of Mages Faction's anger over Nystul's deal with the Time Lord — the secret revelation of the Shards left magical scholars feeling deceived, and they organized politically to demand a new ruler who could "lead Britannia against Minax and keep peace once it's restored."

The lore: the Mages of Moonglow began the rebellion; British's loyalists tried to suppress it; the suppression backfired, creating martyrs and accelerating the schism. Their preparations were cataclysmically secret — they gathered notes, items, and arcane knowledge they would need for their drastic next move.

Minax

They follow the evil mage Minax. They are based in a mountain stronghold.

Mondain's apprentice and lover. Minax's Faction recruited from her existing minions — the worshippers of the Dark Mistress who had remained loyal through her Ultima II-era exile and her UO event-cycle returns.

The lore tension within Minax's Faction: many of her own followers wanted to call the Shadowlords to take rightful rulership. Minax was useful as a magical tool, they argued, but not powerful enough to lead them against Lord British in the long term. This in-Faction unrest is what produced the Shadowlords Faction.

Shadowlords

This Faction follows the three demonic entities known as the Shadowlords. Their base is the Yew Crypts.

The cosmic-evil splinter from Minax's ranks. The Astaroth, Faulinei, Nosfentor worshippers — those who believed the Anti-Virtue cosmology of Hatred, Falsehood, and Cowardice were the proper rulers of Britannia. The most ideologically extreme of the four Factions; their PvP playstyle leaned toward terror tactics and anti-Virtue griefing.

How the Faction system worked

Joining

Visit the stronghold of the Faction you wish to join. Use the signup stone located near the entrance. You receive a Faction robe (which displays your allegiance) and immediately join the fight.

The PvP rule

All Factions are aggressive toward each other. Any Faction member could be attacked freely by any member of another Faction — without a duel formality, without flagging, with no Justice consequences — anywhere in Felucca. This was the most aggressive PvP rule in UO short of pure red-name play.

In other facets (Trammel, Ilshenar, Malas, Tokuno), enemy-faction players appeared neutral. The aggression was Felucca-only.

The sigil-capture mechanic

The eight Felucca cities controlled by the Faction system:

To capture a city:

1. Steal the Sigil from the town's current holder (initially: True Britannian).
2. Take the sigil to your Faction's stronghold.
3. Hold the sigil for 10 hours to corrupt it.
4. Place the corrupted sigil back in the town's sigil-rack.
5. The town is secured for 3 days, after which the sigil can be stolen again.

Each Faction's strongholds had Faction Stones, Faction Vendors, and Faction Traps — defensive infrastructure to hold sigils during the 10-hour corruption window. PvP raids on sigil-holding strongholds were the most intense Faction warfare moments.

Leadership roles — 3 elected and appointed offices

Faction players were eligible for public office within their Faction. Three offices:

Faction Commander

• One per Faction.
• Elected weekly through Faction-stone voting.
• Can send a global command to all Faction members twice per hour by simply saying "message faction".
• Most commands made by the Commander are decided through Faction and Town Stones (not unilateral edicts).

Town Sheriff

• Appointed by the elected Faction Commander.
• One per city.
• Controls the placement of guards in the captured Faction city.
• May view the town/city treasury.
• May hire guards by saying "I am Sheriff" aloud.

Town Finance Minister

• Appointed by the Faction Commander.
• One per city.
• Manages taxes and resource vendors in the captured city.
• May access the town treasury to change tax rates.
• May hire vendors by saying "I wish to access the city treasury".

These offices created in-Faction politics — Commander elections, alliance-building, sheriff appointments became the social engine of the Faction subsystem.

Faction items and silver

Starting in Publish 56, Faction players could use silver (a Faction-internal currency) to purchase special items and equipment:

• Worn equipment required a certain rank to wear.
• Items were only usable by Faction players — non-Faction characters could not equip them.
• Items included Faction-specific armor, weapons, and consumables.

Inside each stronghold near the Faction Stone was a Cooperative Collection chest:

• Donate silver to it.
• Collect rewards from it.
• Silver donated this way was beneficial to the Faction as a whole.

Faction silver was earned by defeating enemy Faction members in PvP — a positive reinforcement loop that rewarded active combat.

End of the Faction system — Publish 86 (September 25, 2014)

September 25, 2014: As of Publish 86 Factions has been removed from the game. It has been replaced by the Vice vs Virtue PvP system.

The Faction system was retired with Publish 86. Reasons cited by the development team:

• Active player counts in Factions had declined; small populations made the 4-way Faction war unsustainable.
• Sigil-capture mechanics were dominated by a few well-organized PvP guilds, alienating casual PvPers.
• Faction items had become unbalanced relative to the modern equipment power curve.

Vice vs Virtue (VvV) replaced Factions with a simpler 2-side (Vice / Virtue) PvP system focused on shorter-cycle objectives, modern artifact rewards, and a less-bureaucratic command structure. Faction items remain in player vaults as collectibles; sigils are now unobtainable outside of museum-collection contexts.

Faction-system relics

Several Faction-era items remain in modern UO as collectibles:

Siege Perilous Faction

Siege Perilous had a slightly modified version of the Faction system. The Siege variant adjusted Faction balance for the harder-PvP shard's economy and reduced some safety buffers. It too was retired with Pub 86, replaced by Siege-VvV.

See also

• Vice_vs_Virtue — the replacement PvP system
• Lord_British — patron of the True Britannians
• Council_of_Mages — the rebel mages' Faction
• Minax — patron of her Faction
• Shadowlords — patrons of the splinter Faction
• Time_Lord — whose deal triggered the Council of Mages
• Nystul — the Time Lord's interlocutor
• Felucca — the only facet where Factions had aggression
• Publish_86 — the retirement publish
• Siege_Perilous — variant Faction system
• Faction_Commander · Faction_Traps — preserved system relics