Chapter 2: Guilds ofRavnica
HE TEN GUILDS ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF
Ravnica, making up the foundation of its
society. They are voluntary associations led
by guildmasters, but that's the extent of their
resemblance to the craft and merchant guilds found on
most DUNGEONS & DRAGONS worlds. They include many
different kinds of organizations:
- A government body, the Azorius Senate
- A military force, the Boros Legion
- An espionage network, House Dimir
- An association of raiders, the Gruul Clans
- Two scientific research institutions, the lzzet League
and the Simic Combine
An organized crime family. the Orzhov Syndicate - Raucous performance troupes collectively known as
the Cult of Rakdos, which bends to the whims of a
powerful demon - Two widely divergent groups devoted to nature, the
Golgari Swarm and the Selesnya Conclave
Citizens of Ravnica aren't born into guilds. An individ-
ual can choose to belong to any guild-or no guild. Some
guilds, such as Selesnya and Boros, actively recruit new
members, while others simply accept those who seek
membership. People within a family might join different
guilds, which can lead to strong connections between
the guilds in question or to painful animosity in families
whose members follow different paths.
Even though citizens can choose their guild associa-
tions, long-standing traditions steer certain individuals
toward a particular guild. For example, it would be
highly unusual for a Devkarin elf (a dark elf) to join any
guild other than the Golgari, and the Ordruun line of
minotaurs has provided the Boros armies with gener-
ations of offspring. Members of certain races are also
drawn to specific guilds, as noted in the description of
each of guild.
Guild Membership
You establish your character's membership in a guild by
choosing that guild's background from among those de-
tailed in this chapter. This book assumes that you have
chosen a guild and that you maintain your association
with it throughout your life. As a result, your choice of
guild can play a more significant role than most back-
grounds do in shaping what your character does now,
not just what you accomplished in the past.
The backgrounds associated with guilds in this chap-
ter work like those in the Player's Handbook, giving
you proficiencies, languages, equipment, and suggested
characteristics (personality traits, ideals, bonds, and
flaws). Each guild entry also provides personal contacts;
suggestions for your alignment, race, and class; and a
list of spells that you can add to your spell list if you're a
member of a spellcasting class.
Guild Spells
The spellcasters of Ravnica's guilds have a style of
magic specific to their guild. A guild's description in-
cludes a list of guild spells that epitomize the type of
magic the guild favors. The Boros Legion, for example,
tends to prefer using spells of fire magic and holy light,
and its guild spell list reflects that emphasis.If you play a character who has the Spellcasting or the
Pact Magic class feature, your guild spells are added to
the spell list for your class, thereby expanding the spell
options available to you.Bonds and Contacts
As a benefit of your guild membership, you have con-
tacts both inside and outside the guild. Contacts are
useful resources in the urban environment of Ravnica,
where a friendly face can be more valuable than gold.
As stated in the Player's Handbook, bonds represent
your connections to people, places, and events in the
world. Contacts are people you have a connection to, but
they're not necessarily bonds. People can be bonds if
they inspire you, motivate you, or make you act against
your best interests. (They can represent flaws if their
existence amounts to a weakness for you.) Contacts, in
comparison, are simply people you know. They might beThe Guild less
The guilds might be considered the heart and soul of
Ravnica, but they aren't all that makes up the city. Many
citizens choose not to join a guild-some because they
can't be bothered, and others because they have philo-
sophical objections to the very idea of guilds. The so-called
guildless are especially common in areas that might be
considered rural: places farther from the heart of the city
and the larger exurban districts. But even in the city's
heart, some guildless citizens actively oppose the influ-
ence of the guilds. blaming the world's strife and suffering
on an elite hierarchy that seeks to take control, consolidate
wealth, and fragment a populace against itself.
The numbers of the guildless include people engaged in
a wide variety of trades and services that aren't managed
and regulated by the guilds, from baking to cartography.
University professors, guides, traders, and bartenders
might be guildless. Criminal gangs set themselves up as
rivals to the Orzhov, and even military forces operate inde·
pendent of guild control, serving as neighborhood police
forces or mercenaries for hire.
About half of Ravnica's population is guild less. That
proportion is higher for some races than others: nearly
all elves, for example, belong to the Golgari, Selesnya,
or Simic guilds, but a majority of goblins are guildless.
Loxodons tend to have a strong sense of community, so
they readily join guilds. And when they don't, they join
groups of another sort, such as mercenary companies
or cults. Simic hybrids are all created within the Simic
Combine, so it's rare for them not to be part of it.CHt\f'TFR 2 GUil D~ 01 RAV:-\ICA 29