In the long ago and far away, guilds were established both to teach the ins and outs of a trade to someone, and also as a way to protect those very same trade secrets from getting out. Guild membership was also a way of proving to potential customers that you were a skilled practitioner of an art in a time before accreditation, and these organizations operated as a means of both social support, in addition to allowing workers to organize to better negotiate with power structures that would have crushed them individually.

While guilds in fantasy settings still have all those aspects, they also fill roles for our stories, and for our players. Guilds may act as backdrop for a particular location, they might provide assistance to a party of characters or they may even be the party’s paymaster. Guild membership might be part of a player character’s backstory, or it might be something they want to prove themselves worthy of. Guilds might also fill the role of antagonists, standing in the way of the party achieving their goals.

The following ten guilds are examples of organizations one might come across in Sundara, complete with brief histories, sample members, the heraldry associated with the guild in question and even rumors about what may be going on behind the closed doors of their guild houses. It is important to remember, though, that any sufficiently large guild will have internal differences and local flavors, so players and Game Masters alike should feel free to add local flavor to any guilds they plan to use in their own campaigns!

The supplement is also available in a version for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Released: 17th June 2023 Pages: 38

PDF ($3.99): DriveThruRPG

Speaking of Sundara: Top Picks From Guilds of Sundara

Neal Litherland Reads “Send in the Dogs”