Factions

Five main factions inhabit San Andreas, each pursuing it's own interests.

Each of them has a number of sub-groups, separated by goal or geographical location; while some of these sub-factions are well known and advertise openly, others are more discrete and will only reveal their existence to people they trust, offering specialized missions with unique rewards.

Scum
Aggressive against Spooks, neutral towards Establishment, Free Folk and Goons.

Establishment
The de jure ruling body of San Andreas, the Establishment is the San Andreas branch of the Mainland Government, receiving intel and directives directly from Capital City. Their stated goal is to restore law and order at any cost; they are not interested in the well-being of their subjects, but in maintaining control in their enclaves, and they don’t mind using excessive force for this. The Establishment is lead by Governor Skinner.

Aggressive against Free Folk and Spooks, neutral towards Scum and Goons.

Free Folk
Located in Red and Flint County and built around the core of the former Civilian Defence Force, the Free Folk group is openly opposing the Establishment and is currently fighting a seccession war against it. They declared independence from the Territory of San Andreas, naming their new republic The Free County of Red (FCR) with the capital in Dillimore. They are led by Aaron Freemantle and his family and promote an autonomous way of life in the countryside hills. They settle the farms from the countryside and try to expand towards Whetstone, while fighting low-key battles with the Establishment in the South and North.

Aggressive against Establishment and Spooks, neutral towards Scum and Goons.

Goons
Gangs embraced the change and started to do well for themselves once again. The Goons are soldiers of a new wave of banditry, more adapted to the times, covert and less violent but having the same purpose it had in the darker days before the New Order: to get rich by ripping you off of your goods. However, they are now also involved in a few legal operations as well, from mechanic shops to transport bussinesses and hireling enforcerers.

Aggressive against Spooks, neutral towards Establishment, Free Folk and Scum.

Raiders
After Operation Strict Resolve, the Raider clans were pushed out to remote areas of San Andreas. They can now mostly be found outside the Secured Enclave of Los Santos, where they live in large shanty settlements in places like Whetstone or Las Venturas Wastes, and is better they are avoided. Spooks patrol the highways and open roads in their War Rigs, looking for easy victims and cargo to prey on. They can rarely be encountered inside Los Santos, except for small groups of daring warriors coming to prove themselves on the most dangerous of hunting grounds.

Raiders are aggressive against all factions.

Joining a faction
New player characters will spawn as scum, in the base faction.

The Free Folk Militia can be joined through their recruitors in various locations around the world.

The Establishment can be joined either voluntarily through the Population Registrar Offices or involuntarily by being snatched by a Peacekeeper team. Advancement through the ranks is possible, from Cleaner Corps to the elite, from the bottom up.

Raiders are the bottom of the list and you'll join them when no other faction wants you.

Locations
You will find various locations, points of interest and bases scattered around the world of San Andreas, most of them held by a faction. Many contain at least one trader or mechanic NPC and might have one or more mission-giver NPCs. Locations usually have better loot, are guarded by armed NPCs and offer beds (in which you can replenish lives), storage and various other facilities.

Faction influence
Faction influence is used as a parallel form of currency for unlocking certain perks with your faction. It starts from zero when you join a faction and can be most easily increased by doing missions for them. You will be able to recruit followers, obtain free equipment or spawn special faction vehicles by spending faction influence.