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Balor01
2010-04-23, 04:55 AM
I am making a concept of mageguild and would like some comments regarding it. Mageguild consists of several dozen mages whos' main job is to prevent other wizards form destroying the world. (spamming half-tarrasques by means of simulacrum, etc ...) So they have two fraternities: Seekers and Killers. First are masters of divination and own huge information nets, intertwined with thieves guilds in several towns, while others are best-of-the-best munchkins.

Now, there are also those, who just like to play their own game as creating their own demiplane and creating their own machinations there.

What I would like is a thought or two on how would power be distributed in such a guild? Surely, there would be different factions (I was thinking rogue wizards also, but I find that a bit unbelievelable due to such wizards death ratio) and am wondering what kind. Maybe:
- "Let's conquer the world" faction
- "Let's not conquer the world, there wil be retaliation from druids/clerics/gods" faction
- "We do not care" faction
- "Tougher restrictions must be placed on wizards and their destructive spells" faction

... in a sort of a high council, where all wizards have their say and can wote. (only few dozen highest-ranking of course, not ALL wizards in the land)


Comments much appreciated

Math_Mage
2010-04-23, 05:32 AM
What I would like is a thought or two on how would power be distributed in such a guild? Surely, there would be different factions (I was thinking rogue wizards also, but I find that a bit unbelievelable due to such wizards death ratio) and am wondering what kind. Maybe:
- "Let's conquer the world" faction
- "Let's not conquer the world, there wil be retaliation from druids/clerics/gods" faction
- "We do not care" faction
- "Tougher restrictions must be placed on wizards and their destructive spells" faction


"Ah, the fraternities of the enchanters."

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Deliverance
2010-04-23, 07:50 AM
You can't have a guild faction system for wizards, the most scholarly class in the game, without the

* Knowledge itself (of magic, of life, of anything) is our primary goal, our power is the tool
* Knowledge is our path to temporal power (for good or evil), not the goal

split amongst the members - with most members having their own balance of the two extreme viewpoints.

Things such as having a "let's conquer the world" faction are much more setting specific and won't make any sense at all in some settings.

Likewise, in some settings destructive spells might be considered bad and/or excessively dangerous, in others there might be a prejudice against necromancy, in a third there might only be a few socially acceptable outlets for magic.

Since you seem to go with a cliché-ridden low-fantasy setup based around conquering/destroying the world, this should probably be implemented via the

* "Status Quo" faction; "Things are pretty good as they are. We want things to remain as they are so we can continue focusing on the important things in life, namely the pursuit of knowledge and living our everyday lives, secure in the knowledge that tomorrow will bring much the same as today. Most of us won't object to minor changes, but any attempted major change that will affect us will meet our active opposition".