combat) or flee from them. You might assign the m to
pe rform tasks in your abse nce, whic h could include un-
dertaking research. looking for witnesses to a c rime, or
carrying out a small-scale raid, for example, depending
on their role and capabilities. You carry the respons i-
bility for th eir lives and welfare, ultimately, and if th e
guild decides that you are abus ing your authority and
mistreating the members beneath you. you mig ht lose
renown. lose your rank or status in the guild, or even be
cast out of the guild.
LOSI NG RENOWN
If you commit a serious offense against your guild or its
members, you might lose re nown within the guild. The
exte nt of t he loss depends on the in fraction and is left
to the DM's discretion. A character's renown score with
a guild can never drop below 0. If your renown score
drops below the threshold for a rank or privilege you
have attained, you lose that benefit. Even if you regain
the lost renown, you might find it more difficult to again
secure a position or rank you have previously lost.
Styles of Member ship
As you're playing a character associated with one of the
guilds, think about your character's relationship with
the guild. Guild members can be grouped into four cat-
egories, de pending on their motivations and priorities:
loyalists, opportunists, rebels, and anomalies. Whic h
one of these descriptions best fits your character?
Loyalists join a guild because they firmly believe in
the guild's ideals and want to advance its goals. Their
me mbership in the guild is a badge of ide ntity for them.
They're typically of the races and classes most strongly
associated with the guild, and their personality traits
and ideals fall in line with the suggestions in this chap-
ter. An idealistic human or a minotaur paladin in the
Boros Legion is an example of a loyalist.
Opportunis ts join a guild based on what they can
gain from becoming members. Eve ry guild offers its
members something-whether concrete be nefits such as
opportunities for wealth or more subtle, intangible re-
wards s uch as social status- and getting that something
is the primary motivation for this type of c haracter. Op-
portunists often pay lip service to the ideals and goals of
the guild, looking out for themselves first and the guild
second (at best). A selfis h human fighte r who uses me m-
be rship in the Boros Legion as an excuse to bully and
steal from others would be a n opportunist.
Rebels love the guilds they're in but don't conform to
guild expectations. They might be good-hearted idealists
trying to bend a shady guild toward nobler pursuits, or
th ey might be selfish egotists hoping to direct t he guild's
actions toward promoting their own inte rests. Most re b-
els are typica l me mbers of the guild in terms of race and
class, but they vary from type when it comes to person-
alities and ideals. A Boros legionnaire with tyrannical
tendencies who thinks the Boros should enforce justice
with an iron fist would be a re bel.
Anomalies a re individua ls who join guilds contrary
to all expectations. Their race or class (or both) is out-
side the norm for their guild, but their personalities
and ideals fall perfectly in line; that's why they joined.
A vedalken paladin in the Boros Legion, or an Ordruun
minotaur in the Orzhov Syndicate, would fall into
this category.MEMBERSHIP A N D INDEPENDENCE
Some adventurers do exactly what th ey're told, spending
their careers doing the bidding of their guild s upe riors.
Most adventuring characters, though, prefer more inde-
pendence. You can roll a d6 or choose from the options
in the table below to establis h a reason for the freedom
enjoyed by your character.d6 Reason for Independence
I've been around long enough that my guild lets me
do what I want.
2 I've been chosen for special assignments because I' m
just that good.
3 I've been singled out for special assignments because
somebody up the ranks hates me.
4 I'm moonlighting, and I'd get in trouble if my
superiors knew what I was up to.
5 I've been put at the disposal of another guild because
my superiors want to help them.
6 I've been put at the disposal of another guild because
my superiors hope I'll fail.Changing Guilds
If events in your character's adventuring career war-
rant it, you can abandon me mbership in one guild and
join a different one. Once you leave a guild, you can
ra rely go back.
Your DM decides what requirements you must meet to
join a new guild. Some guilds welcome new recruits and
make the process as simple as possible, while others
require a de monstration of loyalty.
When you cha nge guilds, you lose all the privileges of
me mbership in your original guild, including the back-
ground feature granted to you by your original guild and
any rank or position you have achieved in that guild.
You a lso lose access to your old guild s pells, unless they
are already on your class's spell list, among your spells
known. or in your spellbook. Except in exceptional cir-
cumstances, your re nown score with your original guild
becomes 0.
Your old guild expects you to return your guild insig-
nia, and your ne w guild gives you one to re place it.
You gain the privileges of membership in your new
guild. These include the background feature granted by
your new guild, a lthough your DM might decide that it
takes you a while to gain the full benefit. For example,
a character who leaves another guild to join the Gruul
Clans doesn't immediately know th e ways of the rubble-
belts, but has to gain that familiarity over time. You a lso
gain access to your ne w guild spells.
Your new guild doesn't give you any benefits t hat
assume prior knowledge or experience, including profi-
cie ncies. starting equipme nt (except your guild ins ignia),
and contacts.CHAPTER Ull OS OJ RA\ NJCA 11