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G U I L D

OPERATION

membership is debated and then put through the process

of referendum at meetings. Whether it’s electing new

officers, changing the bylaws, or deciding whether or not

to voice

a

collective opinion on a matter of the

day.

Meetings also serve as venue for introducing new

members and initiating them into the brotherhood. Some

guilds have more elaborate initiation rituals than others.

It can involve nothing more than presenting the new

member, announcing, “We welcome Taka Markavian

into the brotherhood of the Silk Sellers” and basking in

the a chorus of “Hear, hear ” Or it can require swearing a

complex oath to the guild, or performing arcane rituals.

Some evil guilds require even darker practices, requiring

self-mutilation or worse. The same goes for rituals

of expulsion, when a guild

membership.

Psychologically, regular mee

of collective identity among

gives them

a

ritual feeling, and col

membership stresses to each member t

a group whose strength and

than their particular aims

a

guild meetings are not usually open to

except by invitation. Allowing outsid

meetings indiscriminately w

lective solidarity that the me

they have to go to meetings

all

the time. Arcane

spellcasters and scholars prefer to spend the bulk of

their time alone, engaged in study, and bringing them

together too often seems a bother to them.

Guilds, of course, can always call ad hoc meetings

in time of emergency. Emergency meetings not only

communicate important news to the membership

quickly and efficiently, but they also have the psychologi-

cal effect of rallying members to meet whatever crisis

is upon them.

RE RUITMENT

With the general exception of Interest Guilds, guilds are

exclusive organizations by nature. Each Class, Craft or

Profession Guild only represents a small segment of the

population, defined by a set of skills

or

an activity pursued

rofession. Therefore, not just anyone can join, nor

they. But the degree of exclusivity that

a

guild

s

varies across

a

wide range of possibilities.

uilds mostly rely on pure numbers for strength,

doesn’t serve them well to turn away new mem-

ess they’re obviously unsuitable. Someone who

There are also meetings at which only a sm

of

guildsmen are welcome. Guild officers me

own, out of earshot of the general membership, to discuss

their guilds affairs. Very often, they feel it important

to discuss sensitive matters amongst themselves before

airing them before the general membership, so that they

may establish consensus within their own limited ranks.

Also

in large guilds the process of administering their

affairs is so cumbersome that they require small commit-

tees to oversee particular areas of governance. Such

a guild needs a handful of members to meet on a regular

basis just to review its finances, or track projects meant to

improve its standing within the community, or discipline

wayward members.

The frequency with which guilds meet varies according

to their needs and circumstances. It’s just practical for

a

guild to meet often

if

its membership is spread out across

the countryside or their business requires that they spend

a

lot of time abroad. Other guilds just might not need to

meet that frequently. Small, dying and inactive guilds

probably find little excuse to bring their membership

together, if they take an honest look a t the state of their

organization. Members of Class Guilds might go about

their activities with considerable autonomy, their guilds

being unable or unwilling to enforce

a

strong sense of

unity amongst them. Rangers (who could also form

a Profession Guild as trackers), for one, prefer to spend

a lot of time on their own, and actually feel constrained if

or whose alignment runs too

ominant alignment of the guild,

d to turn him away. But in

believe that every new member

ronic decline may wish

exclusive as a salve to their

cannot afford to turn away

ity guilds that have lost

ave little influence in

public affairs. Guilds in remotely populated areas have

trouble finding enough members to justify their exis-

tence and probably won’t be too choosy about whom they

take in. The same goes for disgraced guilds and guilds in

trades for which there is little demand in their local area

(such as shipbuilders in

a

port that is no longer a great

center of trade). Such guilds are beggars who cannot

afford to be choosers, although they would like

to

pretend

otherwise. If they are honest with themselves about their

estate, they will recruit new members as aggressively as

the most fervent Interest Guild.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are guilds that

are

so

closed that they seek out those whom they want

to

apply for membership, otherwise making themselves

completely unapproachable. Some guilds (thieves guilds

in particular) operate under conditions of secrecy and

need to screen new members carefully before allowing

them to join. The same holds true for otherwise legitimate

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GUILDC R E T I O N

guilds that have driven underground after committing

some terrible misdeed or indiscretion. In these cases,

a guild could find i t prudent to ‘tap’ potential new

members, seeking them out and letting them know that

the guildhas reason to believe that they may be worthy of

membership. Tapping rituals vary from guild to guild.

They can involve nothing more elaborate than a discreet

note slipped under the potential applicant’s door with

instructions about what to do if he is interested. Or a

delegation of guildsman might visit at night, when they

are likely to go unobserved, perhaps dressed in formal

and imposing costume to propose that the candidate join

them. Under no circumstances can someone approach a

guild this secretive and ask to become a member. In fact,

to do so would risk his life

was trying to infiltrate the or

But most guilds fall in

They set reasonable membership re

diately screen out those who are

For instance, there is no reason to

guild would accept as a m

experience making or fixing shoes. Howev

ticeship system to which the vast majori

Profession Guilds subscribe

rienced a way to gain the

As

a

general rule, the on

some reason.

is continuum.

all new members pay a one-time initiation fee, and the fee

is set high enough

so that

only someone who has done

reasonably well for himself could afford to pay it. The

Ancient Quill Historians’ Society (page

67

also allows

its patrons to purchase what amount to honorary mem-

berships, although the guild admits that this is simply

a

way of generating revenue from wealthy members of

the community who take an interest in history. Interest

Guilds require a fixed amount of volunteer service to the

cause, participating in their formal activities, before they

accept someone as

a

full member. In sum, the majority of

guilds try to strike a balance between being selective

about whom they take in

so

that they can create an aura

of privilege, and keeping their ranks open

so

that their

membership can renew itself and maintain their strength

as an organization.

Craft and Profession Guilds also have recruitment pro-

grams aimed at identlfying particularly talented individu-

als and bringing them into the guild. This is especially true

in large cities and other areas where more than one guild

s for a given craft or profession, and they must

with

each other i they want to claim the most

or industrious as their own. Every guild wants

a

for having the most talented, skilled and reliable

ers of its trade under its roof, both as a source

nd because it generates more business for its

is to hire on with a member of a guild in that t

under no obligation to accept someone who as

take him on, especially if he has one or more already. But

if

he does, the apprentice must then serve under his tute-

lage for

a

minimum period of time that varies from guild

to guild and trade to trade. The more complicated the

trade, the longer the required period of apprenticeship

(less skilled jobs like teamster require little time to

master, while learned professions like law and medicine

take much longer). After the minimum period of appren-

ticeship expires, the master tradesman makes a decision

about whether or not his apprentice

is

ready to become

a

full-fledged practitioner of the trade. If he does so, he

releases the apprentice from service, who then becomes

eligible for membership in a guild. Of course, the appren-

ticeship system is subject to abuse, as unscrupulous

tradesmen keep apprentices in their service past the time

when they have earned their release,

so

that they can use

them as a cheap source of subcontracted labor. But guilds

actively discourage this practice. Every apprentice who

is held back from graduating to tradesman could be

a dues-paying guild member, after all.

Other guilds set the bar a little differently and make do

without requiring apprenticeship, although they still

adhere to the idea that guild membership should be

exclusive, yet not prohibitive. The merchants guild

known as The Flowing Cup sets no professional service

requirements for new members. But it does mandate that

ure that i t earns such a repu-

romising individuals and recruit

rm of friendly means of per-

dly conversation, avors and

n resort to darker methods

brated practitioner of their

rates more business for the

members easier by playing on their desire to associate

themselves with someone they admire. Many a struggling

guild has thought that gaining a particularly famous

member would solve

all

of their problems, either directly

or indirectly. Therefore, a

craftsmen or professional who

has earned fame for his work might well find himself the

object of a bidding war between two or more guilds, each

wanting the glory

of

claiming him

as

one of their own.

If the competition heats up, he could more or less set his

own terms for membership, rather than allowing the

guild to set conditions for him. Of course, a guild

that pays

a

heavy price to gain the membership of any

individual runs the risk that his special status will breed

resentment among the other members. In the long run,

this

sort

of backlash actually causes more problems for

the guild than it solves.