Your faction card begins the game in play. It gives you the capabilities to play your cards and the influence score you need to stay in the game. You can use only one faction at a time and you cannot put faction cards into your deck.

If damage is inflicted to your faction, it loses an equal amount of influence. However, losing influence is not the same as receiving damage. If a card causes your faction to lose influence, it does not count as receiving damage and therefore is not affected by effects dealing with damage.