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BRC
2007-10-27, 09:54 PM
This is an idea I had, that could be applied to a campaign world, essentially, at some point in the world somebody realized a few things
1. There are a lot of dangerous threats around.
2. There are a lot of people who professionally eliminate those threats.
3. Those people are often capable of destroying a small town in an afternoon.
4. If there are no threats around, those people may just have a free afternoon.
From this somebody decided to create the Interplanar Union of Adventurers (or somthing like it), which works something like this, every population area has at least one union appraiser, if a threat crops up that local authorities are unable to handle, the appraiser decides how potent the threat is and calls in an appropriately powerful team to handle it, Thus ensuring that all threats get handled and that you don’t get bored groups of adventurers. This can explain a few things in DnD
1. Most Dm’s probably don’t bother to explain why your group can wander around, bristling with weapons and armor, without coming into conflict with the authorities. In a world where the IUA exists, you flash your union card and the cops leave you alone until you start causing trouble.
2. Why groups always seem to run into threats they are capable of handling, and why the smaller threats they used to run into don’t happen anymore. Now everybody knows the actual reason is “That would be boring”, but with the IUA it can be explained that this is a purposeful effect.
3. The reason why such a group with such varied backgrounds is working together, in case your players were too lazy to make back stories that coincided with each other.
If you use this idea, here are a few things you could do with it, pick any you like or make up your own.

Charge it: Tired of keeping track of the three gold the team spends at the inn out of the thousands they have? In this scenario the team just says “Two Rooms”, flashes their membership cards and the innkeeper sends the bill to the union.
Cheating the System: I image the Union being funded by a percent of all monetary loot gained by the party, the DM would calculate the loot for the adventure normally, but in game the team would gain extra, give 10% to the union, and the remainder would happen to be exactly what the rulebooks say they could get. However, a sneaky player may try to cheat the system and keep some of the extra gold for themselves.
“How Powerful a group can you afford”: In a darker setting, the union Appraisers are all greedy moneygrubbers who demand bribes to appraise the threat at a level anywhere near necessary to get it settled, and for a little extra the group may get the job done extra-fast, on account of killing minion twice as powerful as that bandit lord menacing your village. The adventurers may demand bribes as well.
“We got an order form for a +2 flaming greatsword”: Some DM’s make tracking down magic items a lengthy and difficult process; others just say you can pick them up for the right money at pretty much any population center. A world with a Union can explain the second option by saying that you’re buying the item from or through the Union.
“Submit you justified expense report for “Bat Guano”: Perhaps the Union has a vast bureaucracy of pencil-pushers who see adventurers as idiots who don’t know the first thing about resource management, and demand to know the reason for every expense occurred on the Union’s Coin.
Gonzo Columnists are CR 15: Perhaps your world has an active media that will always be waiting at the entrance of the sewers when the adventurers come out, covered in ooze and with soon-forgotten promises to buy a ring of acid resistance. In such a world the Union could be highly concerned about it’s image, and the Players may have to manufacture vague comments to answer the questions of the press in a way that cannot be construed to cast the Union in a bad light. Maybe they get a bonus for an astounding piece of PR work (Yes, we could have killed that dragon without lighting all those merchant ships on fire, but that would have taken longer, which means that Milly here *Holds up adorable orphan* may not have survived.)
The Boss hates you: The party managed to piss off a higher up in the Union, who ensures they get sent on undesirable assignments.
Competition: Perhaps there are two unions, and the party must race to foil the nefarious schemes of the villain before their rivals from the other union do it and get all the glory/EXP/Loot.
“Meet the New guy”: You have a new PC to introduce, but you can’t think of a graceful method to do so, well with the Union you can just say the party got assigned a new member, and were sure you all will get along just great.
“Congrats Yom, you got promoted!”: The characters can rise through the ranks of the union, letting them pull some strings to get cheaper resurrections, more access to spell libraries, more ability to pick and choose their assignments. Perhaps they got this way through valor, or maybe just through back slapping and palm greasing.
“Now watch carefully ‘Trouble Bow’ Sreven”: To achieve this assignment, the union gives the team some special gear, these could be things that would clearly help the current problem (Crossbow modified to fire a silver stake that’s been soaked in holy water with holy symbols on it, just the thing to handle a vampire), to Chekov’s guns equivalent to anything Q gives bond, to experimental and dangerous gear that would make sense to give a party in Paranoia and is likely to have Hilarious Consequences.
Union Charter Section50 paragraph 3: The union has set up various guidelines for how to act in certain situations, now almost nobody really cares about these, and adventurers never hear about them until they are being asked why they didn’t follow them. If the Union is big on PR, this may be so they can shift the blame onto the party by saying they didn’t follow the regulations.
“Consider this a gift on my daughters wedding day.”: The Union is more or less the mafia, local governments are either bribed, blackmailed, or cowering in fear that the Union will use some thinly veiled logic to declare them a threat and send a group of twentieth level enforcers to remove them and instate somebody more sympathetic with the Union, because of this they run roughshod over pretty much any law they want to.
“Are you questioning my Athoritah?”: the Union and the local law enforcement don’t exactly have the best of relations, with the Union acting more or less as a Vigilante organization, and the adventurers run into constant trouble with the authorities.

Some Union-Related adventure Hooks.

“Bring them in”: Another Party from the union has gone rogue, the Players are tasked with tracking them down.
Or on the flipside
Pulling a Bauer: The Party has gone rouge and must handle the threat while evading agents from the union.
Bringing down the Smiler: The party learns that a popular and well liked member of the union has a nefarious dark side, however they have no proof and must work secretly to get information that supports what they know to be true.
Cleaning up the system: The Union is little more then a well-organized band of thugs, however it still serves a necessary purpose. The Good-aligned party joins with the intent of transforming it into a beneficial organization.
Internal Investigation: The Union has found something fishy with a recent report they received, and sends the team to investigate the situation.

brian c
2007-10-27, 10:04 PM
This sounds like something that would be headquartered in Sigil (assuming it's actually Interplanar; it could just as well not be).

Cool idea though.

Azerian Kelimon
2007-10-27, 10:04 PM
DINGALINGALING! Did someone say "Hey, that sounds like Fable's heroes guild?"

BRC
2007-10-27, 10:05 PM
DINGALINGALING! Did someone say "Hey, that sounds like Fable's heroes guild?"
Ive never played Fable(though Ive heard it's awsome), but then again, I'm not surprised in any way that this has been used before, its not a particurally original idea.

Azerian Kelimon
2007-10-27, 10:15 PM
Actually, it's usually a groundbreaking idea, since heroes are usually Vigilante's. It's the reason Fable is a new age cult classic: Your character not only is really human (Heck, he/she ages per level!), but the world is truly different and very Peter Molyneux. 'Cause, if you want innovation, you NEED Peter (To illustrate the point, he did Black & White, which was groundbreaking at it's time, and Populous. See a pattern?)

de-trick
2007-10-27, 10:28 PM
sorta like a mercenary guild ehh than since they get paid

Azerian Kelimon
2007-10-27, 10:32 PM
Uuuh, no. Most heroes guilds are just for backup, you earn what you get, and have mighty support. That's it, since WHAT adventurer wants to keep paying a tax?

BRC
2007-10-27, 10:33 PM
sorta like a mercenary guild ehh than since they get paid

Kind of, the difference is that I see the Union not as mercenaries (unless its more ofa corrupt setting), but as taking on threats without getting hired paid, and since this is a DnD setting, said threats are sure to result in some money for those who solve them, which the Union takes a cut of.