Delvers Guild – Arc 2, Session 8 – Roles and Responsibilities

[December 13 – With actual applicants accepted into the Guild, the Founders needed to set actual roles and responsibilities for those applicants.]

[This game uses the Fifth Revised Edition of the Hero System rules along with the Fantasy Hero supplement.  This session happened March 28, 2022.]

Player Characters:

Jala – human female – a person of discretion, studier of Pact Magic with a focus on shadows

Ozrel Runeweaver – human male – Pugilist and Rune Magician

Zarek the Red – fox male – Golem-mancer

Vorgand – human female – Guildmaster and Chief Combatant for the Delvers Guild

Ricky the Astrologer – human male – Newly-minted specialist in Magic Circles and Teleportation Gates

Non-Player Characters:

Torsten, Fish, Harek – ex-bandits, now The Torchbearers for the Delvers Guild

Lars – Chamberlain of the Delvers Guild

Unit: Z0-E – Zarek’s first golem, looks like a fox made of iron

Freysday, December 13th, 1st year of the reign of King Vladik the Gamesman

The founders of the Delvers Guild [the player characters] spent the day hammering out roles and responsibilities.  They also outlined guidelines for advancement in the Guild.

When they finished, they added the following to the Guild Organization document.

Roles and Responsibilities

Trainees

• Trainees are apprentices that need training to become functional Guild members.

Torchbearer

• Expected to have basic Guild training
• Are exempt from combat on expedition – they hold the light source for the expedition
• No pay – room and board paid by designated Master Delver

Senior Torchbearer

This role is a fork in the advancement path.  It is for Guild members who have extensive delving experience as a Torchbearer but no plan to ever follow the Delver path.

• Are exempt from combat on expedition – they hold the light source for the expedition
• Paid a flat amount per expedition

Delver

• Expected to have a primary competency
• May participate in combat on expedition, based on competency
• Must be able to take care of self and follow orders
• Earns 1 share of expedition payout

Expert Delver

• Expected to have multiple competencies
• Expected to be flexible and adaptable
• Will not embarrass the Guild on expedition
• May go on expedition with other Expert Delvers without a Master.
• Earns 1.5 shares of expedition payout

Master Delver

• Expedition leaders
• Responsible for health and safety of all others on their expedition
• Fiscally responsible for the expedition
• Earns 2 shares of expedition payout

Founder

• A Master Delver who founds a new branch of the Guild
• Earns 3 shares of expedition payout

Guild Master

• Runs local branch of the Guild
• Has expedition approval authority in branch territory
• Must go on a minimum of 1 expedition per year, designating an authority delegate to run the branch while they are on the expedition
• Earns 5 shares of expedition payout

Grand master

• Runs entire Guild
• Has expedition approval in all Guild territories
• May designate “No-Go” locations – locations too dangerous for Guild activity
• Approves new Guild branches and sets territories
• Must go on a minimum of 1 expedition per year, designating an authority delegate to run the branch while they are on the expedition
• Earns 5 shares of expedition payout

Advancement Guidelines

Trainee to Torchbearer

Complete orientation training by demonstrating:

• Ability to pack a backpack properly and carry it
• Ability to light a torch reliably
• Ability to set up a camp site
• Ability to correctly respond to Guild field orders
• Familiarity with a weapon or magic [have a Weapon Familiarity or Fam: Power]

Torchbearer to Delver

• Demonstrate proficiency with weapon or magic [2 combat levels or Power 12-]
• Participate in a minimum of 10 expeditions
• Recommendation from a Master Delver who led at least one of those expeditions

Delver to Expert Delver

• Demonstrate proficiency in 5 Expedition Competencies [set in game, but TBD out of game]
• Combat proficiency in weapons or magic
• Participate in a minimum of 30 expeditions as a Delver
• Recommendation from 3 different Master Delvers who each led at least 5 of those expeditions

Expert Delver to Master Delver

[Set next session]

Master Delver to Founder

• Establish a Guild branch

Random Bylaws

1. Expert Delvers forming an expedition need a minimum of 3 Expert Delvers signed on before approval.
2. The Guildhall the Grand Master works at does not need an additional Guild Master – the Grand Master meets that need.
3. The Grand Master and all Guild Masters meet every 5 years to examine and adjust territory boundaries where needed.

End of Session

Guild Postings

[This session was 100% roleplay with no dice rolled with zero prompting from me.  From my perspective, this rocked!  All the players were involved in the discussion of each point for the entire session as everyone had an opinion they wanted to express.  There was debate over several points until they came to a consensus they could all live with.  This is the first game I’ve ever been in where the player characters formed a guild and set up their own bylaws.]

[We ran long, so the final advancement guidelines were set at the next session and then the group went on an expedition.  I’ll update the Guild Organizational Outline after I type up the notes for the next session.]

Delvers Guild

Guild Organizational Outline

Arc 1

Arc 1 Landing Page – Links to all Arc 1 sessions

Arc 2

Arc 2 Landing Page – Links to all Arc 2 sessions, as they post

Last Session: Arc 2, Session 7

Next Session: Arc 2, Session 9