Saving the world on a Sunday afternoon
The term Guild is used to represent an association or group of people organised for mutual support and protection.
Membership of a Guild is optional and (normally) only one Guild can be joined. A character must meet the requirements of the Guild before he will be allowed membership. Each Guild grants bonuses to their members in return for certain restrictions being followed.
Some of the Guilds are proscribed by the Kingdom. Members of an illegal Guild face banishment or death if they are discovered. Characters of such a Guild are allowed to join a legal Guild, subject to approval of their Guildmaster. They must (seem to) meet the requirements of the second Guild, and can gain any of the bonuses except for those involving CPs.
Some Guilds reduce the CP costs for some skills. In this case, the new CP cost is rounded down, though to a minimum of 1 CP.
Example: A Half-Orc Warrior belonging to the Gladiators can learn all melee weapon skills at half cost. When learning Dagger Proficiency, with a base cost of 1 CP, the adjusted cost is still 1 CP. (1 / 2, rounded down to 0, with a minimum of 1). When learning Dagger Specialisation, with a base cost of 2 CPs, the adjusted cost is 1 CP.
Example: An Elven Warrior belonging to the Guards can learn all Armour skills at half cost. When learning Leather Specialisation, base cost of 3 CPs, the adjusted cost is 1 CP.
Example: A Human Scout buys Recognise Creature Specialisation (3 CPs) and Recognise Smell Specialisation (3 CPs) for a total of 6 Character Points. If he was a member of the Pathfinders he would get both of these skills at half cost and hence only spend a total of 2 CPs.
When calculating the costs for Enhance Life, Enhance Mana & Improve Standing add the +1 threshold after applying any guild benefits.
Example: Enhance Mana usually costs 3 CPs for a Human Priest. A Temple of Freedom member chooses to buy it at half cost. So when they buy their first 60 Mana it costs 1 CP (3 halved, rounded down). Next 60 costs 2 CPs. Next 60 costs 3 CPs etc.
Guilds can also provide advanced training past the basics available to all Kingdom citizens. In special circumstances, a Guild will provide training to a non-member. However, the character in question must have performed several services for the Guild to gain this special treatment. Guild members who are discovered teaching a non-Guild member without permission are immediately ejected from the Guild.
When a character is created he can be a member of any one Guild for which he meets the requirements. After that, the character can only join another Guild in game. Each Guild has its own policy, but generally speaking they require the character to leave his old Guild before applying to join the new one. The character may keep or lose previous Guild bonuses, as indicated by the bonus description, but can gain no new ones. Note that some Guilds do not give their members the freedom to leave and pursue those who do with extreme prejudice.
After making an application, the character must demonstrate his devotion to the beliefs of the new Guild before being fully accepted. Some Guilds, usually those dedicated to a cause, will require the character to follow all the restrictions of the Guild without gaining any of the bonuses for a time to prove he is truly dedicated. Only after the character has proved his worth will he be invited to join as a full member. Exactly how long it takes to be fully accepted in a new Guild depends on the Guild.
Once a character has joined a new Guild, he has an effective Guild Rank of 1 for calculating any bonuses the Guild gives him.
Example: When Yriana, a Priest of Life began her career she joined the Paladins of the North. As she progressed she realised that what she truly wanted was not to defend the weak in a general way, but to destroy Necromancers and their Undead minions who cause so much suffering.
At Rank 12 she decided to leave the Paladins and apply to join the Humacti. The Paladins of the North understood her wishes and gave her permission to leave them. At this point, she has the Paladin bonuses of:
• Immunity to fear.
• “Lay on Hands” to cure 12 points of Life and Body Point damage.
• +1 Normal and Power protection.
• A dedicated weapon.She retains ONLY the +1 Normal and Power protection if she keeps to the Paladin requirements of “Defend members of the same Path, giving his life if necessary. Extend his protection to allies of his Path. Protect the weak from the strong.”
The Humacti received her application and accepted her as a probationary member. Over the next few adventures she follows stringently the requirements of the Humacti, smiting Undead by the score and killing a powerful Necromancer and at Rank 17 she is accepted as a full member of the Humacti. Initially, she gains
• the Humacti ability to Recognise Undead.
• Turn Undead at half CP cost. She already has up to Turn Undead 2, so this will only effect higher level versions learnt.
• The Humacti ability of immunity to Fear inducing effects caused by Undead, Necromancers and Priests of Death.Every 10 ranks after level 17 (i.e. 27, 37, etc.), she’ll gain additional Normal and Power protection against Undead attacks which is added to her Paladin’s protection if she keeps to those restrictions. At the same levels, she will also gain the appropriate bonuses to Willpower and Toughness.
Many Guilds have a requirement that you must follow a certain Path(s). You may only join that guild if you follow that Path(s) OR you have no Path.
If you have no Path then when you buy your first Miracle, Ceremony level, Consecrate Item level or Read/Write <Path> Runes it must be bought for one of the Guilds Path(s). If you do not you will be expelled from the Guild.
Membership of the Knights is by appointment by the Council only, from proposals by the Prince or Archdukes (in practice, very rarely is the proposal refused). To become a member, a character must have shown exceptional bravery and duty to the Kingdom. A character can be a Knight of the Kingdom and remain in his other guild, if any, with no penalty.
A member of the Knights of the Kingdom gains the following bonuses.
Note that some of the Guildmasters below have the Knight prefix in front of their guild title to show they are also members of the Knights of the Kingdom.