[Bertram Anders]

Ok, thanks Thayan. I was reading "Dreams of the Red Wizards" last night and it stated that they were worshiped, I checked the release dates, and "Dreams of the Red Wizards" is the older publication.

[MilesBeyond]

Quick question - do faction questgivers provide increased note? Like is there any advantage to doing faction quests over asking random NPCs for work? I'm assuming so but I thought I'd double-check.

[Animayhem]

Well it is always better to do faction quests if you have a faction quest giver. You can take a break from that by trying for the many special quests. That being said if you do not like the type of tasks you get from the faction, you can still advance by doing other quests.

Its just how you want to rp your character. :)

[Wids]

Factions do have that convenience, yes. Random townies tend to say "No, I don't have a quest for you," especially if your Charisma and your Persuade skill aren't so hot. But your faction's questgiver will never turn you away.

But unfortunately, that still doesn't answer Miles' question of whether finishing quests for your faction's questgiver earns better Notoriety and/or faster promotions within your faction than finishing random townie quests or special quests. I've wondered that aplenty in the past and up to the present, and I'm really anticipating what the Priestess of Leira will have to say as soon as Corella finally gets promoted up from Sacramental Chimneysweep.

(Also, do the Harpers have any rank system at all? Eilbren was with the Harpers for quite a while, and she never got promoted at all. The Harpers' questgiver, Lord Whatsisname, only ever gave Eilbren the same "Free this slave" quests over and over, never once mentioning anything about promotions. And the Veiled Tower's priestess was just the kind that heals maladies, sells stuff and takes tithes, so she didn't handle promotions either.)

[Animayhem]

Harpers do have a promotion system like the guilds. However I think depending on your alignment maybe or which Harper group you belong to determines the task? Also Harper tasks a bit tricky as if you are sent some where dangerous you have to determine if you can solo, if you can trust people you ask for help or you just bite the bullet and buy it if available.

There is a group by which you free slaves but you do not advance as you can be in another faction and still do jobs for them.

To advance in temples you really need to be a cleric as lay people only go two levels.

Temples are two parts- one recruiter and at least one priest or priestess. You can tell who is a recruiter when you have not joined anything as yet and they tell you of the temple and god.

Only Thayan knows note. :)

[Wids]

Harpers do have a promotion system like the guilds. However I think depending on your alignment maybe or which Harper group you belong to determines the task? Also Harper tasks a bit tricky as if you are sent some where dangerous you have to determine if you can solo, if you can trust people you ask for help or you just bite the bullet and buy it if available.

Eilbren was an elven Chaotic Good Bard/Ranger, and she got into the Harpers through what I assumed was the usual route: Talk to a certain colorful midget in Bezantur, then talk to one of the Harpers' lieutenants, complete a quest for them (in her case, fetching a buttload of portal stones) and get a Key to the Veiled Tower. I don't think it matters which lieutenant you talk to, as they all have their own rooms in the Veiled Tower (so they're all part of the same Harpers faction).

Maybe they just have very high standards for promotion...that or they caught on to how Eilbren was getting so many slaves out of Thay with their lives (Cast Invisibility on the slave, stalk around the countryside in Stealth Mode (Thanks, Trackless Step) while VEE'ing repeatedly every time you see something hostile, persist until you find the portal.) and decided that Bard/Rangers are honorless cheaters undeserving of advancement.

To advance in temples you really need to be a cleric as lay people only go two levels.

Not just clerics. Divine Champions (Champions of Torm) can advance to any rank in a temple, just as clerics can. Certain temples also accept paladins, druids and/or blackguards as clergy, and one or two temples will accept any class as clergy; you could be a Fighter/Sorcerer/Gruel Chef and still reach Respected Clergy in the Temple of Entropy.

You might be confusing "cleric" with "clergy" here.

Temples are two parts- one recruiter and at least one priest or priestess. You can tell who is a recruiter when you have not joined anything as yet and they tell you of the temple and god.

I know. I've been to enough temples to buy stuff or get diseases cured ("Oh...you're that guy. Okay, where's the one who sells all the bandages?"), and my various characters have worked for Loviatar's Manor, the Temple of Sharess (briefly) and the Temple of Leira. Pain Tiana of the Shards, being the "mean-spirited Prada bitch" type, was a pretty cool questgiver to work for, but she still never made me laugh like the Priestess of Leira does.

Or was that comment meant for everyone who didn't already know?

Only Thayan knows note. :)

This is true.

[Animayhem]

What I wrote was in general for those who may know how to spot recruiters.
Whether a temple pf non-temple they are the ones who explain. :)

Sorcerers and Wizards for the most part cannot advance beyond two levels in temples. My Sorceress Avrora could not but she joined for rp reasons

The Harpers and Veiled Alliance have similar ideas but are totally separate entities.
As I mentioned anyone who knows how can work for the alliance yet still be committed elsewhere. :)

[Balanor]

Faction questgivers do not give more notoriety than a random person off the street. But, as mentioned, the benefit of using them is they always have something for you to do - even if you failed/declined a previous quest from them.

[Wids]

As I recall, Alignment has a bearing on what kinds of quest the character receives (though I believe it's more to do with the character's Alignment than the questgiver's Alignment or the deity's Alignment). Pain Tiana used to give Tristella the occasional "Go kill someone" quest amid all the usual retrieval quests, but Tristella never got a "Free this slave" quest. I assume that it's the opposite for a Good character asking a Good questgiver of a Good god.

So what happens if a Good character joins the temple of an Evil god and starts taking quests for that temple, or vice-versa?

[Bertram Anders]

The quests are usually based on the alignment or faction of the quest giver. For instance legion master sergeant will never give you a free the slaves quest.