Mages Guilds

[Theobod]

So im worldbuilding at the moment for an upcomming game, in a world with a clear magic/mundane divide(obviously no pure mundanes in party to avoid that whole kettle of fish, and cos plot), tier 2//3 gestalt base classes, prestige classes keyed to guilds and arcane disciple domains keyed likewise as well (no gods perse, divine energy comes from outer planes unless its druidic style, then it comes from the prime material), some I have going so far:

The Farseers.
A Guild of contemplative, meditative diviners and scryers, obsessed with mysteries and the wierd, collecters of stories and myth as well as gossip, scandal and arcane lore
Most commonplace encounters with them are as scryers and finders, investigators and loremasters, when something or someone needs finding, the Farseers can get the job done
At the most arcane they are obsessed with the farplane, delving the distant past, what may be and what always has been as well as forbidden and damaging lore, many of its members are known to have lost their minds entirely.
Prestige classes available:
Beholder mage
Illithid Savant
Alienist
Unseen Seer

The Order of the Prismatic Rite
A Guild of diverse leanings, attracting warmages and defensive magicians and all who would learn the 'true art of war magic'. Masters of elemental and paraelemental magics their practicioners are often colourfully clad and highly egotistical.
Most commponplace interactions with the guild are in the mighty Prismatic Rite performed yearly wherin the order's members engage in evocative gladiatorial combat with spell and steel in a series of tiered then inter tiered fights to show of the best and the 'brightest' of battlemagics. Also occasionally hired for Blue Blood banquets and parties for elegant 'lightshows'
Most arcanely understood as masters of the weave of reality, the weave of light unspun, mixing and combining archetypal colour in untold renumerations to be incredible defensive AND offensive magicians... but also wicked Illusionists, these magicians know that the manipulation of sight is all they truely need to win, but even in absentia, light is still a poweful tool, and when all colour becomes one things can get all together too real.
Prestige Classes available:
Order of the Sevenfold Veil
War Mage
Shadowcraft Mage
Rainbow Servant
Radiant Servant

The Pale
A secretive guild of warders, priests and binders. One of the least publicly (read those without magic) aware guilds it keeps out of polotics and the affairs of other Guilds in return for respect and isolation, this guild has scant few publicly known guildhalls.
In the rare instance a non mage (likely a noble) deals with The Pale the details are rarely pure when they do filter into the public domain, usually creating yet another rippling whisper of necromancy and demon binding before settling back into obscurity.
Most arcanely understood as planer boundry experts, testing and teasing them in endless study and manipulation, its members regularily dealing with the souls and bodies of the recently dead and with other inhabitants of the places where the dead called home.
Prestige classes available
Pale Master
True Necromancer
Malconvoker
Nar Demonbinder
Thaumaturgist

The Guides
A large and very publicly successful guild, famous across the land with outposts in most towns and grand Guildhalls in all major cities and even a lot of 'one man' operations of privately run Guide store fronts. Masters of all form of travel magic, the guides can get you nearly ANYWHERE..... for a price.
Of all of the guilds, the Guides are probably the most dealt with by the non magical masses due to being capable of casting any number of useful movement based spells and crafting magic movement based items they dispense everything from expeditious retreets through flight, passing through walls, masterful teleportation and planer gateways and tours... for those that can pay.
Most arcanely they are shrewd cold hearted businessmen, and freakishly wealthy because of it.... and the other guilds HATE them for it. They also have one of the largest codexes of on and off plane hazards in the world.... the other guilds hate them for that too.
Prestige Classes available:
Wayfarer Guide
Abjurant Champion

More to come, please comment and chuck me ideas, i'm all ears :)

[Psyren]

If the Guides are truly hated by the others then they're pretty screwed, as the other guilds completely outmuscle them from a power standpoint. The Farseers in particular are packing some truly ridiculous potential due to IS and BM.

You mentioned T2/T3 base classes - what did you have in mind there? Any modifications being made to the wizard/sorcerer in this setting? I think you would need to, since nothing is stopping the other guilds from using travel magic as well otherwise. For example, instead of full wizards and sorcerers, I would use Saph's Transporter as the base class and make that only available to the Guides. I would also give them an arcane version of the Elocater as their combat/gish arm.

[Theobod]

Actually my intention was elliminate wizards, clerics and druids from the setting entirely, leaving maybe Artificiers.
I have done an entirely tier 3(and below) world that was post tier one by 1000 years, most magic items were old world or made by 'witches' (warlocks) or adepts or eclectic learned warmages et al)

back on topic, nothing except inclinations, limited acess (spellpool wont necessarily have ALL spells ALL the time for instance on that front but thats a meer triviality) and importantly this is a lawful society, once there were political powers, sovereigns and bishops and all that, war and chaos, then the sovereigns and religeons fell, city states emerged..... war and chaos, eventually the guilds (more than presently) arose, consolidated power and.... war and chaos..... for a time, mages guilds generally having the best and brightest, and an agreement was forged.
Guilds would choose a portfolio, practice it and other related fields, make money via honest commerce (no fabricate tricks) and not step on another guilds toes or attempt to directly undermine another guild.
And its held for over 200 years, those who flaunted it were quickly anhialated by the others....

till now perhaps, not sure what my plots gonna quite entail yet :)

Edit: forgot, also psionics icarnum et al are in, and transparencies also in. so no arcane versions of things required. Base classes tend towards certain guilds but not exclusively.

[Psyren]

Illithid Savant and Beholder Mage are still a bit powerful, even on a T3 chassis. For instance, a member of the former can run around eating people from the other guilds and effectively hit T1.

[Andion Isurand]

I was hoping to see some affiliation tables with ways to improve/lose one's affiliation score and of course those with benefits for members who attain and maintain certain levels of good standing with each organizations.

If you wrote some of these up, you could grant prospective members for a given organization a one-time affiliation bonus for having class levels in any of the appropriate prestige classes.

[Andion Isurand]

Sample Tables for Farseers

{table=head]Criterion (Single Use) | Affiliation Score Modifier
Character level | +1/2 levels
has at least one Aberrant feat | +1
Aberration Type | +2
Knowledge (any) 5 ranks | +1/skill
Knowledge (any) 15 ranks | +2/skill
Skill Focus [Knowledge(any)] | +1
ability to cast 5th-level divination spells | +2
has at least one level in Loremaster, Unseen Seer, Beholder Mage, Alienist or Illithid Savant | +1
Intelligence 9 or lower | -15
[/table]

{table=head]Criterion (Multiple Use) | Affiliation Score Modifier
share a new spell | +1
secures a new tome or article of significant lore | +1
recovers ancient, or previously lost knowledge | +2
recovers ancient, or previously lost knowledge from another plane | +4
donate a spellbook | +1/new spell
identify new creature and at least two of its special attacks or qualities | +1
protect a guild storehouse or library from destruction or theft | +2
refer a new member | +1
arrange regular and informative contact with an extraplanar entity | +4
fails to pay monthly membership fee | -3
knowingly destroys a book or other source of lore | -3
knowingly withholds spoils from guild sponsored quest | -12
steals knowledge from guild | -12
[/table]

{table=head]Rank | Affiliation Score | Title / Benefit
0 | 5 or less | Acolyte. None
1 | 6-11 | Initiate. You gain a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks with natives of one chosen plane.
2 | 12-17 | Adept. You gain the ability to cast Contact Other Plane once per week as a spell-like ability. You gain a +2 bonus on ability checks regarding the use of this ability. Caster level equals HD. You may not use this ability while both your Intelligence and Charisma scores are each less than 10.
3 | 18-23 | Agent. You gain the ability to cast Sending as a spell-like ability once per day, with a casting time of one standard action. Caster level equals HD.
4 | 24-29 | Emissary. You gain the ability to cast Planar Tolerance and Plane Shift each twice per day, as spell-like abilities. Caster level equals HD.
5 | 30 or more | Exarch. Bulwark of Madness (Su): As a standard action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity, you may transfer any number of ability penalties and any amount of ability damage and/or ability drain from your Intelligence and/or Charisma score, to your Wisdom score instead. You're always aware of how each option might affect your Wisdom score.
[/table]

[Theobod]

I had COMPLETELY forgotten about affiliation tables :D You have given me that icing on the stodgy cake of my guilds :3 Im gonna have a good look at them and try my hand :) thanks Andion Isurand :D