Voadam said:
Does the guildsman have any abilities that apply to make him competent in combat as an adventuring PC (anywhere near the level of a rogue or bard)?
Awesome question, nice to actually have a question about the book's content
I think the Guildsman would be a fine adventurer, I certainly wasn't trying to design an NPC class.
He has a medium BAB and a d8 for HD, proficiency in simple and martial weapons, light and medium armor, a good range of skills and 6 skill points per level.
For class abilities, he has two trees he can choose from freely, one which makes him a better craftsman, allowing him to build items faster and make Masterwork items with different qualities other than attack bonuses, and higher Masterwork bonuses than +1.
The other ability tree, merchant, makes the guildsman a master negotiator, able to buy and sell items more effectively, getting a higher price when selling and a lower price when buying. He also gains skills at bribery and even some combat bonuses when money is involved.
Beyond these two ability trees, both classes gain contacts in guilds that can help smooth things along in town. At first these contacts are limited to a single town, but at high levels the guildsman's contacts will extend into other guilds and eventually spread over a continent.
These contacts give a guildsman a bonus to certain skills, the ability to get free food and lodging, borrow equipment and even get into cities where he would normally be barred, or claim a kind of sanctuary as a guild ambassador.
In short, the guildsman is a fair combatant, with a wide range of skills, who makes an excellent support character to any group through his ability to make high quality items no other class can make, or in his ability to be a master haggler on behalf of the party to stretch their money further.
These qualities would be useful anywhere, even for dungeon spelunkers, since you still need good equipment and need to sell the loot you find.
In town, the Guildsman is even more valuable, because he knows everyone and can use his guild contacts to smooth the party's way.
Hope this answers your questions.
Chuck
