D&D 5E I could use some help with a homebrew Thieves Guild

[Herosmith14]

So, a little while ago, I posted a thread asking for advice on how to do a "telepathic stealth" challenge. I gathered some good advice from that thread, and I think that will work for a mental challenge. The reason I posted that thread is that I'm working on designing a homebrew Thieves Guild for a module or possible use in a homebrew adventure.

This Guild is inspired by the Psicorpse from "Babylon 5." The idea is that it's composed of Mystics, GOO Warlocks, Ghostwise Halflings, a few Kenkus (forging physical documentation), and possibly Knowledge clerics. The idea is that Soul Knives, Immortals, and Wu Jens would function as muscle, Awakeneds could be sleepers or other deep cover agents, Nomads could be Thieves, telepaths in general could function as blackmailers, and telekinetics can be borderline untraceable assassins.

I'm having a little trouble fitting Avatars and Knowledge clerics, though I made some progress with the latter. I managed to formulate that with Read Thoughts and the command spell, they have to potential to stand beside Awakeneds in the role of "puppet masters behind the throne." The problem I ran into with this is that I'm having a little trouble seeing this thieves guild as particularly religious, and even if they were, I'm having trouble deciding on a deity, (I was thinking Vecna, but a) he's not technically a deity, making him better suited for a warlock patron, and b) I don't know if there's a deity that would better fit the theme of this guild (I'm not against pulling deities from Pathfinder or other sources, I'm just much more familiar with DnD)). The difficulty I'm having with the Avatars is that I'm not exactly sure what role they could serve in a Thieves Guild.

It would be greatly appreciated if people could suggest things to fit these two classes in. The knowledge cleric isn't much of a problem, it's just the theming that's bugging me.

 

[schnee]

Psicorpse - lol, love it

How allergic are you to a complete re-skinning to make the abilities psionic instead?

I mean, literally keep all the same mechanics, but just make them psionic, and 'flavor' it in your world to be a thing. They don't have to pray to a god, just meditate, or be Animists or something.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

"The Guild is Mother, the Guild is Father."

Why do you feel the need to have knowledge clerics be a required part of the guild? It sounds like you've just listed any class or race with the capability to either read another's thoughts, or to speak to someone else via thoughts in addition to the actual psychic classes. Wouldn't spellcasters with Detect Thoughts, Telepathic bond etc also fit in?

Which setting are you playing in? Is there not an option of clerics worshipping a philosophical ideal rather than a distinct deity?

Avatars would seem to fit as leaders of guild teams, in gang war and negotiations.

 

[Coroc]

Use Mask, it is a god of thievery for the clerics. His domain is rather trickery but knowledge would be no big shoehorn. Or use Olidammara from the greyhawk setting he fits a bit better even.

Since I do not know Psicorpse, I may be giving the wrong suggestions. May I ask why this thieves guild is so deep into psionics? Do you use the film setting as a framework for the organisational structure or is psionics a big factor in the setting?
I cannot properly say what avatars would impersonate in your view, since in D&D avatars are impersonations of a deity on a prime world and normally have stats like a CR30 dragon or such.

 

[jgsugden]

Mystics of the Order of the Avatar delve into the world of emotion, mastering their inner life to such an extent that they can manipulate and amplify the emotions of others with the same ease that an artist shapes clay. Known as Avatars, these mystics vary from tyrants to inspiring leaders who are loved by their followers. Avatars can bring out extreme emotions in the people around them. For their allies, they can lend hope, ferocity, and courage, transforming a fighting band into a deadly, unified force. For their enemies, they bring fear, disgust, and trepidation that can make even the most hardened veteran act like a shaky rookie.

In a guild such as this, I'd see these as the punishing masters of the thugs - they inflict pain and anguish to make their folks stay in line, and are the ones that are sent out to punish those that do not comply with the orders the guild gives to them. I'd have the typical avatar in such a guild be a juxtaposition - appearing cold, emotionless and focused while inspiring intense emotions causing great emotional displays in those they impact.

As for the knowledge clerics: When in doubt, make up the god you need. Any evil God of Secrets would seem to work for this purpose. Given the Babylon 5 inspiration, I might nod back to B5 there and make the God a Planetar or Solar that desired to do good and thought they could do more if they ascended to a higher state of existence - and decided in secret to do anything necessary to make that happen. They spent centuries carrying out their secret plan. Thus, when they achieved their goal, they became the Lesser God of Secrets and Betrayal...

 

[schnee]

Since I do not know Psicorpse

He meant 'Psi Corps', as in a military organization of psionic soldiers.

 

[Herosmith14]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm not going for any setting in particular at the moment, I just thought this was a fun idea that I could use on players down the line.

As for why I'm going with the psionics theme, I rewatched some early episodes of B5, and realized the Psi Corps's tactics and abilities fit all to perfectly into a Thieved Guild.


Sent from my iPhone using EN World

 

[schnee]

I hope the guild's top psionicist has a name that's some anagram of Bester

or Alfred Bester if you want to be truly legit

 

[Herosmith14]

I hope the guild's top psionicist has a name that's some anagram of Bester

or Alfred Bester if you want to be truly legit

After jgsugden's suggestion earlier, I was thinking of making a prominent Avatar who is cold, but has a smug edge and is constantly spouting sarcasm, just like a certain someone.