Commonwealth Factions
THE COMMONWEALTH MINUTEMEN
The Commonwealth Minutemen are a volunteer civilian defense militia, described as citizen soldiers banding together to protect themselves and their communities. Similar to the Minutemen of the Revolutionary era, the modern day group is focused on defending the people of Massachusetts, at a minute's notice.
​
The group first rose to prominence in 2180, when they defended Diamond City against a super mutant attack. The Minutemen continued in their goals of responding to requests for help from nearby settlements that were being attacked, lending their aid towards its defense. The overall faction was historically led by a general and individual contingents led by a colonel. The last Minutemen general, Joe Becker, died in 2282, but who should serve as successor was never agreed upon. After General Becker's death, rivalries between different groups began to cause infighting and disorganization, ultimately leading to the Quincy Massacre, which destroyed most faith the common people had in the Minutemen, though they are slowly rebuilding.
​
Led by an overarching general and individual groups by colonels, members wear unique uniforms and are often armed with pipe weapons and double-barrel shotguns. The signature weapon of the Minutemen is the laser musket. The Minutemen also utilize artillery, giving them the means to defend locations from afar.
CHURCH OF THE CHILDREN OF ATOM
The Church of the Children of Atom is a religious cult built around the worship of radiation and nuclear annihilation as vehicles of creation and life.​ The Children have a loosely hierarchical structure, centered around spiritual leaders. Called either confessors or mothers, depending on sex, they hold absolute authority and can issue commandments at will. The Children of Atom are all sworn to follow them or suffer the consequences. To eliminate dissent, inquisitors of Atom can be designated by the leader at their own discretion.
​
The militant arm of the Children are known as zealots, sworn to defend the faith and guard its followers and their shrines. Zealots are typically former mercenaries or raiders who converted to the faith and operate under the command of a grand zealot. The grand zealot typically designates a deputy, tasked with ensuring the fitness of other zealots. Many Children exhibit congenital immunity to radiation, but the faith accepts all converts as long as their faith is true.
RAIDERS
Raiders are groups of barbaric and nomadic gangs found all throughout the Commonwealth. They are known to extort the denizens of the region and raid other raider groups for material and kidnappings. More gruesome acts like skinning their victims alive and wearing their skins are also known.
​
Raiders are split into various gangs generally led by a single leader. These leaders tend to be much more brutal and ruthless than their followers. Raider strongholds fluctuate greatly in size between the gangs of the Commonwealth; some bases are mere camps while others cover vast swathes of land or sea. From these camps, the raiders stage attacks on nearby settlements or pick off lone travelers.
GUNNERS
The Gunners are a ruthless mercenary organization that operates in the Commonwealth. The Gunners are most known for their no prisoners mindset and have been known to wipe out entire settlements, like common raiders, but are better organized and equipped.
Gunners take inspiration from the pre-War United States Armed Forces in their organization, with certain modifications. Their military rank system is lifted largely from the pre-War US Army: Gunners rank from the basic recruit all the way to brigadier. They also tattoo their members on the forehead to distinguish their membership and ensure loyalty. Blood types are also tattooed, to expedite medical care.
TRIGGERMEN
The Triggermen are a loosely-connected group of independent organized crime syndicates that operate out of multiple hideouts such as Vault 114 and Goodneighbor. They share a common set of rules based around Boston's pre-War mafia families and their traditions. This appears to be due to the influence of their ghoul members, who claim to have been members of such organizations. They favor style over substance and will usually wear a suit or other clothing typical to the pre-War era, sometimes alongside a fedora. Thus, they usually stick close to their territory, only leaving to conduct dealings beneficial to their operations.
THE INSTITUTE
The Institute is an advanced scientific organization based in the Commonwealth. It is known and feared for its ability to produce advanced synthetic humans (also known as synths) of high enough quality to pass as true humans. The secretive nature of the Institute has turned it into somewhat of a boogeyman figure on the surface, and its presence is a major cause of paranoia for the people of the Commonwealth.
THE RAILROAD
The Railroad has been in existence since at the least the time of the creation of the first successful Generation-3 synths by Institute scientists around the 2220s. Following the public's discovery of the synths during the Broken Mask incident in Diamond City in 2229, the question if they deserve the same rights as natural humans became a major subject of debate, with frequent bickering between opposing sides. Many people believed that the Institute's synths were mere machines; just another model of advanced robot. Others, however felt that synths deserved to be free, having being treated as slaves by their creators at the Institute. This is a point that makes some convinced that the synths are worthy of saving. It was from these ideals that the earliest possible incarnation of the Railroad would emerge.
​
The Railroad is constructed like a pyramid, with the base composed of "tourists" (informants and sympathizers), above which stand runners and safehouse owners, then an even smaller group of field agents, and finally, the most secretive and heavily protected, the HQ members that have access to all the information and coordinates Railroad operations. Field agents are given aliases in place of their real names in order to protect their identities and operate on a "need-to-know" basis to protect the Railroad.