E.N. Guilds - Merchant Guild

[Crothian]

Written by: Robert Hunter Art by: Michael Yatskar

When it comes to the buying and selling power of a community, no one else wields it like the Merchant Guild. From E.N. Publishing comes the second in the E.N. Guilds series - the Merchant Guild.

Explore the intricacies of the merchants that compose this guild, their influence on a community, and what it takes to belong. E.N. Guild books bring you a resource of knowledge and crunchy rules. This fully bookmarked pdf venture into the secrets of fantasy guilds bringing you 24 pages of material ready to use immediately.

This e-book includes:

• An overview of merchant guilds, from dues and membership, to community reputation, and more.
• Two new feats
• Two new prestige classes.
• Five new magic items.
• Five sample npc merchants

 

[Muad'dib Pendragon]

E.N. Guild - Merchant Guild by Robert Hunter

Disclaimer: I received a review copy

E.N. Guild – Merchant Guild is the fourth in a series of guild-focused supplements put out by EN Publishing. It is a 27-page PDF, including the cover and Open Game License, consisting of four chapters and an appendix. It retails at RPGNow for $4.95.

Appearance

Merchant Guild comes in a three megabyte zip file with both a black and white printable version and bookmarked color onscreen version. Merchant Guild uses the typical two-column style layout on a faded pink parchment background, with black and white pencil sketch artwork interspersed conservatively throughout the PDF. The artwork, by Michael Yatskar, consists of four pencil sketches, with various portions of the four sketches used throughout the PDF. The writing is not great, but presents the material in a readable manner. Editing, as performed by Robert Sullivan and Garth Wright, leaves much to be desired, with frequent grammar and spelling errors overlooked. Finally, the PDF dedicates one page to the cover, a page to the credits and table of contents, and a page to the Open Game License, providing players with 24 pages of guild-related gaming material.

Contents

Chapter one, entitled Guild Overview, consists of nine pages. It introduces the reader to a “merchant” guild in general, describing it in broad terms and encompassing various professions dealing in goods and/or services. Thus, a “merchant” guild could be a bakers’ guild, a teamsters’ guild, or anything in between. The text provides a table of sample “merchant” guilds of various types. The text covers guild history (what and why), membership, benefits, leadership (religious or Council), dues, apprenticeship (with crunch on progression), titles (essentially a rank/political structure), and community relations. The sections on apprenticeship and titles are particularly helpful in fleshing out guild organization, and are not limited to “merchant” guilds.

Chapter two, entitled Guild Secrets, consists of three pages. It details merchant guild-related skill sets, grouping pre-existing skills under various particular “merchant” guilds. For example, the Bakers Guild skill group includes Knowledge (spices), Knowledge (cooking), Bluff, and Diplomacy. In addition, the text discusses, in the broadest terms, behind the scenes guild to guild relations and motivations. Finally, it details two new feats: Uncover Machinations and Visual Speech. Both feats, while useful and not “merchant” guild specific, are not awe inspiring. Disappointingly, Uncover Machinations based part of its bonus on the character’s guild rank, yet failed to provide a bonus for the rank of Guild Major. An example of the Visual Speech feat would also have been helpful.

Chapter three, entitled Prestige Classes, is five pages long. Two prestige classes are detailed: the Exemplary Purveyor of Goods and the Exemplary Purveyor of Livestock. They are almost identical, with the obvious difference being the focus of goods vs. livestock. The Exemplary Purveyor of Goods, in particular, reminded me of the professionals one would see on the Antiques Roadshow, while the Exemplary Purveyor of Livestock reminded me of a judge at the local county fair. While each may find value in one’s particular campaign from an NPC perspective, I just can’t picture a player character with one of these prestige classes.

Chapter four, entitled Magic, is three pages long. It briefly discusses the influence of magic on “merchant” guilds. In addition, it details four minor, yet extremely useful, magic items. Finally, there is a brief overview of the relationship of “merchant” guilds and the gods. The magic items, in particular, would fit well in any campaign; while the section discussing guild-god relations was all too brief.

The Appendix, entitled Sample NPCs, is four pages long. It details five low-level NPCs of various races as members of various guilds. Each is provided with the usual stat block and flavorful description text. Each NPC is useful and comes with some subtle built-in plot hooks.

Impression

Once you get past the editing, E.N. Guild – Merchant Guild is a nice plug-in to any urban campaign. The information provided is flexible enough to apply to just about any guild, and provides a good starting point for those interested in exploring the inner workings of a “merchant” guild and guild relations during play. While seemingly more appropriate for NPCs, details on guild organization could lend itself to fleshing out player character background and providing some interesting plot hooks. Feats (with a little work) and magic items could well find their way into any character’s bag of tricks. Prestige classes, however, are definitely more befitting an NPC. Finally, the sample NPCs provide some interesting characters to drop into any campaign, with minor plot hooks of their own.

If you’re looking for an urban campaign expansion at a bare-bones price, E.N. Guild – Merchant Guild is a good start.

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

E.N. Guild: Merchant Guild

Written by: Robert Hunter
Edited by: Robert Sullivan and Garth Wright
Cover and Layout Design by: M. Jason Parent
Illustrations by: Michael Yatskar
Art Director, Layout, and Project Lead: Garth Wright

Disclosure: The reviewer did not purchase the PDF, but received a free copy for reviewing.
Reviewer: Peter R. Ellis a.k.a. MavrickWeirdo

“In the broadest of terms, a guild is a grouping of merchants or brokers in similar good or services that discusses obstacles, benefits for their craft as well organizing a framework of policies and guidelines to which they agree to adhere.”

That is the first sentence of E.N. Guild: Merchant Guild, and it is not a bad place to start. Unfortunately the author starts, “In the broadest of terms,” and stays there. When I chose this item to review I was hoping for specifics on guilds who make their living as middlemen, buying goods to sell at a profit. Instead the word “Merchant” seems to be defined, “In the broadest of terms,” as anyone who runs a business. It gives many examples of possible guilds including; The Assassins Guild, The Bakers Guild, The Farmers Guild, The Market Guild, The Potters Guild, The Scholars Guild, etc. As a result it only talks about guild principals which would apply to all those different guilds, rather than choosing one (such as The Market Guild) and giving specific examples.

The information on dues gives some broad suggestions, for example, “How Payment is Made: Coin/Legal Tender – Portion of profits (% of take) or a set payment with a fixed schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, annually)”. Nowhere does it say what a typical fee is, or what determines if you pay by a daily or monthly schedule. The explanation of apprenticeship does contain some specific suggestions of what is expected, and even a couple of possible plot hooks.

“Chapter II Guild Secrets” was not what I was expecting either. It does not discuss shadowy conspiracies. Instead it tells us, “Many guilds conduct their day-to-day business without (or at least with few) attempts to subvert the politicians, the royal family, or to find suitable sacrifices for an evil god.” (Personally, I would have liked a chapter on guilds who did those things.)

This is the “Skills and Feats” chapter. The first part is a list of suggested skills for different guilds. While on the cover it states that, “This product uses material from the v.3.5 revision” several skills changed or dropped from 3.5 are included: Animal Empathy, Innuendo, Wilderness Lore, etc. There seemed to be a number of redundant skills in this list. The herbalist guild skills include both “Knowledge (herbs)” and “Knowledge (spices)”. Personally I don’t think to would have upset game balance to give the herbalist: Knowledge (Nature: herbs & spices) as a single skill. The author also seems to have trouble distinguishing between “craft” and “profession” skills. “Craft: Shipper/Receiver/Dockworker”, “Craft: Midwife”, and “Craft: Lumberjack” do not sound right to me.

There are two feats listed, both of them are for skill bonuses for situations where the player would be better off role-playing than roll-playing.


Chapter III has two prestige classes, a collector of curiosities (which provides bardic benefits) and an exotic animal trainer (which provides ranger benefits). In my opinion if the player wants these benefits they should just take some levels in bard or ranger.


“Chapter IV: Magic” May be the best content in the book. The items described seem specific to merchants, and they sound original.


The Sample NPC’s in the back make some of the same skill mistakes as chapter 2, but the backgrounds are usable. The PDF did not include it’s own, “Prestige Classes,” for any of the NPC’s.

Finally, I will discuss the artwork. There are four different drawings used in ten different places. I do not mind the three “close-ups” used on the table of contents page. To have visual hints of what is to come at that point is acceptable; however the drawing on the cover is not so great that I need to see it a second time on page eighteen.

On the whole I feel there is some information a knowledgeable DM could sift out of this PDF, but they would have to work at it.