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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MavrickWeirdo" data-source="post: 2607604" data-attributes="member: 107">E.N. Guild: Merchant GuildWritten by: Robert HunterEdited by: Robert Sullivan and Garth WrightCover and Layout Design by: M. Jason ParentIllustrations by: Michael YatskarArt Director, Layout, and Project Lead: Garth WrightDisclosure: 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.</blockquote>

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