Red Dead Redemption 2 mod enRAGE adds NPC rivals and faction wars

Modder nicklovin99 has released an early-access mod called enRAGE for the PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2, Polygon reported. The mod is built for Story Mode rather than Red Dead Online, and its creator warns that bugs are to be expected at this stage.

enRAGE gives NPCs names, personality traits, family ties and backstories, and lets their hostility toward Arthur Morgan build from resentment into a desire to kill him. Robbing, insulting or beating a character, or stealing their horse, can turn that character into a nemesis who may return with scars or injuries. Friends and relatives of a killed character can learn about the killing and pursue their own revenge.

Factions, camps and supply lines

The mod also adds a faction system covering eight outlaw groups and the U.S. Army, each with leaders, officers, camps, supplies and territory. Killing a faction officer can change its leadership, while attacking camps or supply lines can weaken a group's ability to fight. Players can interrogate captured enemies for information or try to settle a feud through a telegram.

World events are tracked in an in-game chronicle, with some incidents appearing in local newspapers.

The Nemesis system that inspired this style of NPC memory appeared in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of War, where enemy orcs remember encounters, develop rivalries and return seeking revenge. Warner Bros. patented the Nemesis system technology in 2021, limiting how other developers could use similar mechanics.