Organisations you DO NOT want to step on their toes

[Pinjata]

Monsters are scary, yes. But IMO nothing is as dangerous as an organization, that got hurt by PCs. Can you give me examples of such groups beyond:

- dragons' servants
- thieves guild
- vampire cabal

thanks :)

[Kelb_Panthera]

The ultimate evil organization.

The Nine Hells of Baator.

For that matter, the cults of various dukes of hell and demon princes can be pretty nasty too. Same goes for the churches of evil deities.

[GorinichSerpant]

-A kingdom(or specifically it's government)
-A guild of a lucrative trade
-A guild of merchants
-A rebellion led by a ruthless charismatic leader
-Evil Social Darwinist Druids
-What ever sort of organisation mindflayers have

[EnglishKitsune]

Hmmmm, I'm going to go slightly off tangent and not go with outright confrontation, but just list a lot of little groups who could still do a lot of (Non Lethal) damage if snubbed/slighted.

Local Lords, Sherrif's Men, Any sort of designated "Law" Element. You really don't want a bounty on you. Especially as these guys are generally the questgivers to most adventuring parties.

The Guild of Innkeepers, You burn down a Tavern and find yourself barred from all Inns and Mead Halls for Life. In fact any guild of Craftsmen, Blacksmiths could overcharge the PC's, use poorer quality iron in forging, Merchants withhold stock, etc etc.

Bards, Troubadors, Performers - Want your name associated with a song about a drunken ass? To have your group laughed out of every town? To have kids sing rhymes about you're mother? Do not annoy those who tell tales!

Lastly: The Clergy, Temples, Religions, etc. Seriously, you do not want to annoy a god. At best, you find it harder to be healed/revived/blessed. At worst, you end up being tried for consulting with demons and heresy. (Had this happen to me, and no, wasn't a warlock at the time. )

[boomwolf]

The Spanish Inquisition.

Seriously, how did you not expect this?

[Nargrakhan]

If you have a "continental herald guild" in your campaign, it's basically like a medieval CNN. Imagine if they spread false rumors and pinned crimes you didn't commit on you, across all known civilization?

Screwing with a dragon is bad enough, but you NEVER want to tick off an ALLIANCE of dragons. In game settings like Shadowrun and Iron Kingdoms, doing that is an automatic game over.

You probably would not wanna get a hive mind race angry at you. Basically an organization on an entire species scale.

[EnglishKitsune]

The Spanish Inquisition.

Seriously, how did you not expect this?

Because the told me Months in advance so I could have my Tax Records and other Evidence that I was a good Upstanding Catholic?

Failing that, if people burst in unannounced and shouting, chances are they would get a fireball to the face.

[Nargrakhan]

Oh yea! Don't forget Death. Sure a lot of settings have a deity of death (or deities of them), but that god usually has agents and phenomena under them who do all the actual reaping. Even when there's multiples of them, death gods usually have a "mutual understanding" of who's soul goes where and which mortal's are "theirs" for the most part.

Not exactly peachy if for some reason, the ENTIRE Death domain has it in for you. I'm not talking a few Death priests... I mean all Death on the globe. Remember the movie Final Destination? Don't wanna attract that level of "everything is gonna kill you" attention.

[fishyfishyfishy]

The Dragonmarked Houses of Eberron.Never mess the network of people that control nearly every aspect of the economy. Especially when a large chuck have magic powers.

[Nargrakhan]

-A kingdom(or specifically it's government)

Great one. Matter of fact, most PC's would be so powerless against the entirety of an empire, it would be unfair.
Just one arm of the government would be enough. Which one it is can set the thematic theme of opposition.

Facing down Imperial Intelligence might give it a fighting the CIA/FBI feel. Facing down the Imperial Army might give it an action movie moment (especially when they bring the fantasy equivalent of heavy armor and artillery). Facing down Imperial Diplomacy could bring political and court intrigue. Facing down Imperial Magic Research could bring horror and fighting inhuman monsters.

The possibilities are endless!

Even better scenario: having the PC's be involved in a power struggle between two or more organizations. Don't wanna make either angry, so they gotta be extra careful... or find a way of getting out of the crosshairs.

[Garimeth]

The Spanish Inquisition.

Seriously, how did you not expect this?

Winning.

In all seriousness, the secret police/spymaster of a kingdom. Or even a non-government entity that is clandestine or secret, like the Harpers.

[Jay R]

The Spanish Inquisition.

Seriously, how did you not expect this?

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

[Sometimes it's just too easy.]

[Gnomes2169]

The Faerun drow. Just don't. And if you somehow manage to piss them off... don't. They are the scariest things in the underdark for a reason.

[BWR]

So all answers boil down to "any ruthless group more powerful than you".

[Kelb_Panthera]

So all answers boil down to "any ruthless group more powerful than you".

Well, yeah. I kinda figured that was a given and the OP was looking for something a little more specific.

[Jay R]

The Dungeon Masters' Guild

[BWR]

Well, yeah. I kinda figured that was a given and the OP was looking for something a little more specific.

Problem is, depending on your power level this can be quite a lot - even "No-teeth" Tony's gang from down the street (thug 1, highest stat Str 12) can apply.

How about the local LG church?
If you are a thief, conman, robber, murderer, vampire lord, they will find you and mess you up. They are backed up by divine might, have the unwavering support of the majority of the city's population, are dedicted to protecting their own and punishing anyone who would go against them. They won't hesistate to start anything if you offend their morals (though they are fairly lenient with minor offenses) andt will not hesitate to crush you if you if they feel it necessary to protect their interests.

[Jay R]

How about the local LG church?
If you are a thief, conman, robber, murderer, vampire lord, they will find you and mess you up. They are backed up by divine might, have the unwavering support of the majority of the city's population, are dedicted to protecting their own and punishing anyone who would go against them. They won't hesistate to start anything if you offend their morals (though they are fairly lenient with minor offenses) andt will not hesitate to crush you if you if they feel it necessary to protect their interests.

Yup. Good for them.

If you are a thief, conman, robber, murderer, vampire lord, then that's exactly what a well-balanced society of people who want to live undisturbed should do.

[Drakeburn]

Okay, being a bit more serious here, how about....

• An Assassins Guild.

If you mess with these guys, your character will probably get killed in his sleep.

• Evil Gods

When one kills off the followers of an evil god, or desecrate their shrines and/or temples, you're really asking for it.

[YossarianLives]

The cult of Cthulhu.

A oil tycoon.

The Illuminati.

[icefractal]

The Mercane would be pretty bad. Lose your best source of access to magic items, and be targeted by assassins from across the planes.

[Frenth Alunril]

Parents who are friends with other parents...

[OldTrees1]

The Architects Guild.
Seriously any guild that knowingly deals with BBEGs and has a "no witnesses" option for contracts is not someone you want to cross.

[daemonaetea]

The most feared and effective group I've ever put into a game were the Advocates. Basically a cabal of extremely powerful lawyers dedicated to Asmodeus. At any given time there were only thirteen of them in the world, but they were chosen only from the most powerful of Asmodeus' followers. What they did was simple: criminal defense. They would simply show up in town when certain criminals were caught, and then defend him to the fullest extent of the law. And... that's it. If they lost, they left, no hard feelings. If they won, they left, no hard feelings. They were merely avatars of Law that showed up to help those caught, seemingly at random. They arrived in peace, no armor, merely impeccably crafted suits, and no visible weapons. My players gave them an extremely wide berth, and they never even did anything. Merely the knowledge of exactly what they were, and the idea that if any of them were opposed the other twelve would immediately show up, kept them from wanting to even go near them. The tension came in that, while the Advocates did nothing directly wrong, they're presence meant those who did wrong were more likely to go free.

[Synar]

A bank. Or a banker guild.

A mercenary organization.

A retired adventurer's team.

A college of wizardry*.



*As in, an institution that regroups wizard that are doing research/plans/anything, not a wizard school, eh.

[Bob of Mage]

The tax collectors are one group you never want to piss off. In the real world the only certain things are death and taxes. So if in the D&D style world death isn't certain, imgaine how much effort thye put into taxes. Also think of the fact that some Lawful plane somewhere has a corner set aside just to keep track of everyones tax record, and the such a plane is just a spell away.

PETA or a group like them. The belive in dumb ideas and will not stop if they think you are up to no good. Since they don't normally do evil (well it depends on how loosely you define evil), but are just annoying, you can't use your sword or a fireball to get rid of them.

[Sartharina]

Any Good-aligned organization with access to force.

Getting on the wrong side of an Evil faction merely gives you an excuse to completely blow it up and be thanked by the world.
If you try blowing up a Good-aligned (or at least Good-ish, such as most police forces) faction, the world will hate you for it.

However... you have to do more than merely step on the toes of a Good-aligned faction to get a response from them.

[Yora]

The Architects Guild.

You mean the Masons?

[Knaight]

The United Fruit Company.

Other things in their style work too. The key is that they are incredibly rich, that they've subjugated a nation or three for the sole purpose of keeping the money flowing, and that they are willing to do all sorts of horribly unethical things to stay rich and powerful.

[goto124]

Lastly: The Clergy, Temples, Religions, etc. At best, you find it harder to be healed/revived/blessed.

This bit really can depend on the world you're in. I've been in games (fine, not Tabletop - a MUD) where death leaves you at the complete mercy of other PCs. The Resurrection spell is held only by the (equivalent of) church. If you somehow manage to annoy the church, and you die, you'll be that way forever.

Not sure how many TT worlds are like that though.