Page 30 - Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica

CHAPTER 2: GUILDS OF RAVNICA

HE TEN GUILDS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF GUILD SPELLS
Ravnica, making up the foundation of its The spellcasters of Ravnica's guilds have a style of
society. They are voluntary associations led
magic specific to their guild. A guild's description in-
by guildmasters, but that's the extent of their
cludes a list of guild spells that epitomize the type of
resemblance to the craft and merchant guilds found on
magic the guild favors. The Boros Legion, for example,
most DUNGEONS & DRAGONS worlds. They include many
tends to prefer using spells of fire magic and holy light,
different kinds of organizations:
and its guild spell list reflects that emphasis.
• A government body, the Azorius Senate If you play a character who has the Spellcasting or the
• A military force, the Boros Legion Pact Magic class feature, your guild spells are added to
• An espionage network, House Dimir the spell list for your class, thereby expanding the spell
• An association of raiders, the Gruul Clans options available to you.
• Two scientific research institutions, the lzzet League
and the Simic Combine BONDS AND CONTACT S
An organized crime family. the Orzhov Syndicate
As a benefit of your guild membership, you have con-
• Raucous performance troupes collectively known as
tacts both inside and outside the guild. Contacts are
the Cult of Rakdos, which bends to the whims of a
useful resources in the urban environment of Ravnica,
powerful demon where a friendly face can be more valuable than gold.
• Two widely divergent groups devoted to nature, the As stated in the Player's Handbook, bonds represent
Golgari Swarm and the Selesnya Conclave
your connections to people, places, and events in the
Citizens of Ravnica aren't born into guilds. An individ- world. Contacts are people you have a connection to, but
ual can choose to belong to any guild-or no guild. Some they're not necessarily bonds. People can be bonds if
guilds, such as Selesnya and Boros, actively recruit new they inspire you, motivate you, or make you act against
members, while others simply accept those who seek your best interests. (They can represent flaws if their
membership. People within a family might join different existence amounts to a weakness for you.) Contacts, in
guilds, which can lead to strong connections between comparison, are simply people you know. They might be
the guilds in question or to painful animosity in families
whose members follow different paths. THE GUILDLESS
Even though citizens can choose their guild associa- The guilds might be considered the heart and soul of
tions, long-standing traditions steer certain individuals Ravnica, but they aren't all that makes up the city. Many
toward a particular guild. For example, it would be citizens choose not to join a guild-some because they
highly unusual for a Devkarin elf (a dark elf) to join any can't be bothered, and others because they have philo-
guild other than the Golgari, and the Ordruun line of sophical objections to the very idea of guilds. The so-called
minotaurs has provided the Boros armies with gener- guildless are especially common in areas that might be
considered rural: places farther from the heart of the city
ations of offspring. Members of certain races are also
and the larger exurban districts. But even in the city's
drawn to specific guilds, as noted in the description of
heart, some guildless citizens actively oppose the influ-
each of guild.
ence of the guilds. blaming the world's strife and suffering
on an elite hierarchy that seeks to take control, consolidate
G UILD M EMBERSHIP wealth, and fragment a populace against itself.
The numbers of the guildless include people engaged in
You establish your character's membership in a guild by a wide variety of trades and services that aren't managed
choosing that guild's background from among those de-
and regulated by the guilds, from baking to cartography.
tailed in this chapter. This book assumes that you have University professors, guides, traders, and bartenders
chosen a guild and that you maintain your association might be guildless. Criminal gangs set themselves up as
with it throughout your life. As a result, your choice of rivals to the Orzhov, and even military forces operate inde·
guild can play a more significant role than most back- pendent of guild control, serving as neighborhood police
grounds do in shaping what your character does now, forces or mercenaries for hire.
not just what you accomplished in the past. About half of Ravnica's population is guild less. That
The backgrounds associated with guilds in this chap- proportion is higher for some races than others: nearly
ter work like those in the Player's Handbook, giving all elves, for example, belong to the Golgari, Selesnya,
or Simic guilds, but a majority of goblins are guildless.
you proficiencies, languages, equipment, and suggested
Loxodons tend to have a strong sense of community, so
characteristics (personality traits, ideals, bonds, and
they readily join guilds. And when they don't, they join
flaws). Each guild entry also provides personal contacts; groups of another sort, such as mercenary companies
suggestions for your alignment, race, and class; and a or cults. Simic hybrids are all created within the Simic
list of spells that you can add to your spell list if you're a Combine, so it's rare for them not to be part of it.
member of a spellcasting class.

CHt\f'TFR 2 GUil D~ 01 RAV:-\ICA 29