Daask. The monstrous criminal guild called Daask, a
pawn of the leaders of Droaam, has started launching
violent raids against Boromar holdings over the last
two years. A mobile organization using guerrilla tac
tics, Daask has managed to circumvent Boromar se
curity and avoid serious reprisals for a range of violent
thefts and sabotages. Agents of Daask go out of their
way to harm up-and-coming Boromar agents.
Sharn Council. Despite four friends on the city council,
the Boromar Clan has several enemies as well. At
least three councilors oppose the Boromars because
of genuine concern for their constituents; two more
oppose the syndicate because they're part of rival
organizations (the Aurum and the Tyrants). Because
of their influence, the council has so far refused to
devote any resources to combating the rise of Daask,
hoping the monstrous guild will bring down the Boro
mars. Individual members of the Boromar Clan can
be sure that these councilors will oppose any petition
they might bring to the council.PATRON BENEFITS
With a crime syndicate as your group's patron, you gain
the following benefits:
Assignments. The Boromar Clan doesn't pay you, but it
might assign you to particular tasks. Sometimes these
are tasks someone has hired the syndicate to perform
(such as an assassination), in which case the syndicate
passes 85 percent of the fee on to your group. Other
times, your aim is to enrich the syndicate (such as by
pulling off a heist), in which case you have the priv
ilege of keeping 85 percent of what you steal. Other
syndicates might take more or less than a 15 percent
share, at the DM's discretion.
Contraband. You have access to your syndicate's "busi
ness" of dealing with contraband, such as poisons or
narcotics. You don't receive a discount on these goods,
but you can always find someplace to purchase them.
Fences. Members or associates of your syndicate are
skilled at disposing of stolen goods, and you have
access to this service as well. Fences are useful for
selling not just illicit goods but also expensive items
such as works of art and even magic items. In the case
of magic items, this allows you to delegate the work of
finding a buyer (a downtime activity described in the
Dungeon Master's Guide and Xanathar's Guide to Ev
erything) to the fence. The drawback is that you don't
get to choose whether to accept the offer you might
receive-the fe nce makes that call for you.
Immunity. As a member of the Boromar Clan, you are
protected from other members of the clan. No one in
your syndicate targets you for their own criminal op
erations. (Of course, the same is expected of you.) On
the other hand, if you have rivals within the clan, they
might find other ways to interfere with your activities.
Syndicate-Owned Businesses. The Boromar Clan
owns several businesses, primarily as fronts for laun
dering money. When you buy from one of these busi
nesses, you get a 5 percent discount. The DM decides
what goods and services are available.
--THE--SMA�W �WQU�S�l�\f(
SAVAGERY
IN STYLE AT
TAIN GALA
The annual Ta in Gala, as everyone knows, brings the
wealthiest and most prominent citizens of Sham together
in a grand display of opulence and power. But last night,
it also provided a shocking display of violence, as Saidan
Boromar-head of the Boromar family, which is allegedly
tied to all manner of criminal activities throughout the
city-was confronted by a would-be assassin (whose
name will not be made public until her next of kin have
been identified and notified). Boromar and his wife, Mala
Boromar d'Jorasco, escaped unharmed thanks to the
timely intervention of their bodyguard, a recent immi
grant from the Ta lenta Plains whose fascinating culture
and fierce demeanor were both in plain view last night. A
Boromar spokesperson identified the bodyguard as Halak
Boromar, head of the Clawfoots-the Boromar fa mily's
personal guard, named for the dinosaurs ridden by half
lings in the Ta lenta Plains.BUILD YOUR GROUP
Naturally, a large portion of the Boromar Clan's mem
bers come from a criminal background. There's no rea
son characters with other backgrounds can't be part of
the syndicate, though. The Boromars recruit ex-soldiers
as muscle, trained sages for research, sailors to crew
smuggling vessels, and charlatans and urchins for their
unique talents. Consider some or all of these roles for
characters in your party:
Bruiser. Sometimes subtlety means breaking just one
of a snitch's kneecaps. The Bruiser uses force and the
threat of force to make sure that the crime syndicate
gets what it wants. Strength is a natural prerequisite
for the role, but Charisma can also be useful, espe
cially when combined with proficiency in Intimidation
to reinforce the danger inherent in the Bruiser's pres
ence. Plenty of Bruisers have a criminal past, but for
mer soldiers are often recruited into this role as well.
Fighters and rogues make natural Bruisers.
Burglar. Agile and nimble, the Burglar relies on Dexter
ity and proficiency in skills such as Acrobatics, Sleight
of Hand, and Stealth to get in to a target location, take
valuables, and get out \\'.ithout being noticed. Some
Burglars specialize in certain types of theft, such as
housebreaking or picking pockets. Besides characters
with the criminal background, young urchins often
find a place in criminal syndicates by filling this role.
Rogues are natural Burglars, but anyone else with the
right combination of skills and abilities can do the job.CHAPTER 1 f CHARACTER CREATION