Opposition

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Strength comes from adversity. Adversity comes from struggle. Struggle comes from enemies. Enemies come from opposing natu res. For every act ion there is an equal and opposite reaction. Every force, every idea, every object has its opposite.
Anything that is can be defined by its opposites; therefore, opposites give meaning. Without an opposite - without forces working against an object - the object atrophies and grows weak.
Opposition brings conflict. From conflict, a body gains knowledge, power, and confidence. The weak are culled so that the strong can grow even stronger.
The Opposition is a group of people who believe these things to be true. They're not a full-fledged faction, but merely one of the sects that litter the planes. However, they live on the Inner Planes, where the clash of opposites is the most obvious and dramatic. Earth hates air and fire hates water, each destroying the other in an eternal conflict that makes the multiverse possible - at least, according to the Opposition.
Whoever a body is, whatever she believes, the Opposition are her enemies. They oppose everyone and everything. They do so not out of belligerence, but to strengthen both themselves and everyone and everything else. Want to improve something? Give it something to struggle against - that's the Opposition's way.
When a cutter runs into the Opposition, it's best to assume the worst. More than likely, they're going to try to stop him from whatever he's doing. The only hope he's got is if the Opposers are already busy opposing someone or something else.
Nothing is beyond the scope of the Opposition's beliefs. Some of the barmier of them seek to oppose the laws of reality themselves. For ultimate strength, they believe, a body's got to undertake the ultimate struggles.
==Combat==
A typical Opposer is a fighter. (Thus, stats for a 4th level fighter Opposer are given above in parentheses.) An Opposer has only one special sect ability, but it's a potent one. One time each day, a member of this sect can successfully oppose another's action. For example, an Opposer can block a blow, stop a runner, or counter an argument. This ability has three requirements: it must oppose the action of another thinking being (a sect member can't oppose an avalanche), it must have a means (blocking a blow with a shield, grappling a fleeing foe, dodging a thrown boulder, and so on), and it must be within the realm of possibility (DM's discretion).
A player character Opposer (if permitted by the DM) should always be required to state the means of the opposition, providing a rationale for how it can successfully occur. Opposition must be declared before any die rolls are made (if applicable). In other words, when the berk chooses to oppose an action, he doesn't even know if that action is going to succeed on its own - it might fail without the Opposer's help .
==Habitat/Society==
The organization of this sect is particularly loose. Tiny little contingents within the group keep it divided enough so that
there is virtually no chance of them ever becoming as large or as powerful as one of Sigil's factions. Unfortunately, many of the Opposers spend their time opposing each other.
Each contingent of the sect lives in one of the Inner Planes, with many favoring the Elemental Plane of Air due to their inability to dwell in most of the other planes long-term without a significant amount of magical aid. Nonetheless, most Opposers travel through even (or perhaps especially) the most inhospitable planes for as long as they possibly can, whenever they can, because they believe that they gain strength from such adversity.
==Ecology==
The Opposers are a small sect. Their members are almost always non- Inner Planes natives, so in terms of those planes, the Opposition is a very small factor indeed. Nevertheless, in isolated areas they are a potent force, respected (or feared) by those around them.
==The Opposition==
===Faction Philosophy ===
Whatever you think is wrong. Greatness comes from hardship, and hardship can be brought about through conflict. Ideas, objects, and people are constantly honed to ultimate perfection by clashing with their opposites. Agreement is weakness.
Here's a tip for planewalkers who encounter an Opposer: Don't try the old "turn their belief on themselves trick" and tell an Opposer that if he really opposes everything, then he opposes himself and his own beliefs too. Every member of the sect has heard that one, and the most common response is, "Now you're getting the idea, berk!" punctuated by a punch in the face. Their rationale is that, yes, they even oppose their own beliefs - or rather, they'd like others to oppose them, in order to make them stronger. Every belief must be challenged, constantly.
=== Primary Plane of Influence===
All of the Inner Planes are equally important to the Opposition, though occasionally one splinter group or another within the sect declares that one element is stronger than another, causing other groups to - surprise, surprise - oppose them. These sorts of activities are short-term and do more to encourage conflict than actually espouse a real preference for one plane. Opposers are rarely found on the Outer Planes. While they enjoy the clash of alignments and beliefs common to those planes, they prefer the more conspicuous manifestation of their beliefs in opposites embodied by the Inner Planes.
===Allies and Enemies===
The Godsmen, who believe in the endless testing of everyone, understand the Opposers' love of adversity. Likewise, both the Fated and the Bleak Cabal agree in the idea that life is a struggle and that the strong should survive.
However, the Opposition, due to the sect's very nature, has no allies. Nor does the sect want them. They oppose the beliefs of all other factions and sects (which makes them a little like the Anarchists, though the two groups still aren't allies). It's been said that if the Opposers were stronger or more significant, the other factions would bring them down on principal alone.
===Eligibility===
Only those who are truly neutral in alignment may become Opposers. It's simply too easy for someone aligned with good or evil, law or chaos, to become motivated by intentions that they should actually be opposing.
===Benefits===
Opposers gain the ability mentioned above in the "Combat" section.
===Restrictions===
The many drawbacks to being a member of the Opposition are probably obvious . No one likes them, thinking them to be belligerent, contrary, and unfriendly. (All true.) This opinion levies a -2 penalty to all reaction rolls made by non-Opposers. Further, no Opposer can ever espouse any belief, opinion, motivation, or outlook other than that of the Opposition, except to oppose the belief of someone else. Black is white - unless someone says it's white, in which case it's black.
Category:Sects
Category:Planescape Appendix III Sects