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Just that.. in a fantasy standard D&D-type game setting; if there is such a thing as an "Adventurer's Guild", would it look like a stuffy victorian social club? A golf/country club? A Frat house? A paramilitary training base? A secret society? A bureaucratic office? The Hall of Justice? A hiring agency?
What should go in there?

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditJust that.. in a fantasy standard D&D-type game setting; if there is such a thing as an "Adventurer's Guild", would it look like a stuffy victorian social club? A golf/country club? A Frat house? A paramilitary training base? A secret society? A bureaucratic office? The Hall of Justice? A hiring agency?
What should go in there?

RPGPundit

In my world, the Adventurer's Guild is a members-only bordello. :D

-clash

A den of debauchery, with a large trophy room.  Quiet upstairs library for the magic-users.  Secret escape routes when the Man tries to bust the place up.

Well in my mind it would be a combination of paramilitary training ground, secret society, and a really nice tavern.

Definitely some variation on a Gentleman's Club.  Lots of comfortable space to stretch out and talk about your last great adventure while making contacts for your next.  Good food, good drink, good smoke, and like-minded company.  "Guild" is, after all, something of a misnomer.  If adventurers went on strike who would care?

It could secretly be an intelligence gathering apparatus of some agency. Using adventures and depending on their wagging tongues about their journeys and findings.

It could be cynical power grab. Draw capable characters in, get them into debt with the organization, with the only way to get out being to work off the debt. They could have a shadily granted monopoly on the sale of found goods.

They could be a running because of a mandate by the powers that be in order to build up a potential cadre of conscripts just before war. Could be secret but might work better as an out in the open thing, going on adventures would be the patriotic thing to do.

Edit: egad, my grammar is atrocious. Forgive me, I'm home sick.

A slightly mercenary network, out to watch each other's backs. They keep a tab on rumours and lore circulating around, so before you go on a mission it's a good idea to check in with them to see what they know. If you're a fully paid-up member, it's a damn good idea to check in with them anyway - they'll send rescue parties after you if you don't come back after a certain period of time, and they'll help you get your just desserts if the guy who hired you withholds payment - or outright betrays you.

Here's a thought - all/any of the above.  I could see adventurer guilds of very different types existing in a single setting - the frequency, number of members, goals, etc. altered by the scale of Eberron versus Wilderlands. They could even be in competition, providing a source of conflict for characters.

Look at me, all story-telling and shit.  Next I'll tackle how the Adventurer's guild deprotagonizes inversely proportional to GM authority.

Or something.

I have to agree with James about there being a large variety of guild types.

In a long running fantasy game my players set up an adventurers guild out of an old tavern they acquired.  Basically they organized expeditions out to various ruins or checked out unknown locations on old maps.  The guild got part of the rewards from the adventure and provided support for injured folks when they got back.  Heck a few time they sent out rescue teams when other groups disappeared.  

They had a basement filled with various objects and books.  Many they were trying to either decode or figure out what they did.  The magic users pretty much sat up a subguild to help each other out in research and all that.

Plus the tavern front was reopened so there was always ale flowing and parties held when people came back from successful trips.

I liked how some ancient Greek taverns would have notice boards for Merc companies hiring and were seen as neutral ground (up to a point).

The worst AG I ever read in an RPG was the one in Dragonquest 2nd Edition - you paid your 5% yearly tithe, any arguments were settled in arbitration by mages using 'true speech' compulsions and the party signed a contract to regulate the sharing of spoils

Somewhere there is a quiet cafe with small tables and cups and things. A man in full-plate is interviewing for a job, seated opposite a hooded stranger. It isn't going very well. The hooded man is trying to mouth the word "check" without letting his face be seen.

Elsewhere there is a pizzaria that holds weekly trivia games. It doubles as a covert intelligence agency. The questions and answers serve as a means of communication. There's also a discount on drinks so long as a local sports team is displayed on the big screen.

Lastly, there is a door set into the second story of a public library. There are no stairs inside.

It should look exactly like the King's Muskateer's headquarters in the 70s film version of The Three Muskateers. Except there's probably a labyrinth tunneled out below, and maybe some cages for weird monsters. There's no tavern on the premises, but the one across the street does a brisk business with the adventurers and the wannabees and hangers on.

An inn or tavern.  Adventurers are constantly just showing up.

Think of the type of building that service clubs occupy today - big, boring, with a 70s smell to them. An Adventurer's Club would be little different, except it would have a sitting room and an active bar. Old, retired adventurers would sit in the corners and talk about the "good old days" of dragon slaying, wench seduction, and horde collection. Younger members would check the job board and avoid the older members. Once a month, there would be a club meeting, attended by almost exclusively older members, where nothing of real importance is occurs. And once a year the club would hold its election where the old crusty's canvass the membership to win the titled positions in the club. The club would support the community through donations, sponsorships and contests and seek publicity for doing so.

Quote from: RPGPunditJust that.. in a fantasy standard D&D-type game setting; if there is such a thing as an "Adventurer's Guild", would it look like a stuffy victorian social club? A golf/country club? A Frat house? A paramilitary training base? A secret society? A bureaucratic office? The Hall of Justice? A hiring agency?
What should go in there?

Nothing.  I don't think that an "Adventurer's Guild" belongs in a standard D&D-type fantasy game setting any more than Victorian dress, golf courses, modern colleges, military bases, government bureaucracies, superheroes, or temp agencies do.  Secret societies?  Sure.  But those should be things like religious orders (Knights Templar), illegal guilds (the classic Thieves Guild), and creepy magical societies, not social clubs for anyone who loosely calls themselves an "adventurer".  

In fact, I think many role-playing games have far to many organizations and structure and could use less of them.  I think there are so many of them because they make it easy to be lazy for both players and GMs, who can rely on the cookie cutter shapes that they provide.  But I think settings are far more interesting when everything isn't organized and I really don't need cliches from the Victorian and modern era in my fantasy games.

Quote from: RPGPunditJust that.. in a fantasy standard D&D-type game setting; if there is such a thing as an "Adventurer's Guild", would it look like a stuffy victorian social club? A golf/country club? A Frat house? A paramilitary training base? A secret society? A bureaucratic office? The Hall of Justice? A hiring agency?
What should go in there?

RPGPundit

In my world, Elthos, there is an Adventurer Guild founded at the heart of the Empire when the world was young and no one knew what lay beyond the Far Ranges, or the River Kismet, or the Red Desert, or the Western Sea by the first Emperor.  The Adventurer's Guild was given a mandate by the Emperor to explore the Unknown Lands, and granted a rather impressive Charter, as well as a Grand Castle to conduct their business from.   There is a Council of 24 Guild Masters, and a Supreme Council composed of one of each of the four Major Houses, and one Guild Lord, who resides as President of the Guild, officiating Council Meetings.  

Fighters, Magic Users, Clerics and Thieves (of course) each have their own House (no this is not a replication of Harry Potter - I've had this structure since the days of old).  The purpose of the Guild from the members perspective is:

1. Gain invaluable Training
2. Team up with other Adventurer's
3. Take (or pass up) Missions
4. Socialize
5. Purchase, or Trade Items, Armor and Weapons
6. Do research of various kinds, gain information, and gossip.
7. Deliver information gleaned from the Adventures to the Guild Masters.

The importance of training is two fold:

1. To learn the skills required to be a member of a specific Guild (or combination of Guilds for those who are split class).

2. To learn how to conduct Combat as an Adventure Guild Group.  

The second one is important because without this training the Adventure Group would not necessarily learn the fine art of such combat, such as MU's fighting from the second rank, and Clerics remaining on the third, etc.  The Guild teaches such things as Group Formations, and Transformations.  For example, who goes to what positions when going from single file formation into a 2 row line, or a 3 row block.   The efficiency of this maneuver while engaged in combat can mean the difference between group cohesion or chaos and defeat.  The formations are standardized based on the group configurations.  For example a group of 12 (which is a large group for the Guild) would usually have 8 Fighters, 2 MUs, 1 Cleric and 1 Thief.  That is called the Standard 12 Man Block, and it can be configured in a number of ways depending on the circumstances.   In a 12 foot wide dungeon corridor they would take up The Brick.  In the Wilderness they might opt for The Crescent, or Star formations.   It depends.  That's the point of the training.  To help the group to understand their options, and allow them to maximize their potential via training.   The Guild also establishes rules for treasure splits, Party Constitutions, and so on.  

Not all PCs join the Guild.  For one thing it costs money to maintain membership.  Two, you have to tow the line, take missions, and obey the rules, which some don't like.  Other reasons for not joining might be personal, religious or political, despite the fact that officially the Imperial Mandate has it that the Guild is specifically Politically and Religiously Neutral.   This allows Adventurer's to group together who may cross Alignments.  The basic rule is that they work together, and leave religion and politics at the door.   However, in reality, politics and religion both have a way of creeping in, and so sometimes rifts occur and people either leave the Guild or don't join.   Characters who Adventure but outside of the Guild are called Freemen.   They can also get Training at the Guild, but they must pay double what the Guild Members must pay (on top of the fee, which is actually rather modest).  

There are Guild Halls scattered throughout the Civilized World at this point.  When the Adventurer's Guild learns of a newly discovered realm they will send a small Guild Party to assess it and report back.  If possible, and interesting enough a realm they will send an emissary mission to found a new Guild Hall there.   All Guild Halls report back to the Imperial Guild once a year with maps, studies, and information about the realm they are invested in.  


Often time provincial Guilds will become involved in their realms politics, as it can not be avoided.  They are instructed universally to avoid Imperial commitments (those that might imply some responsibility of the Emperor to be allied with whomever).  Sometimes when a provincial Guild Hall runs afoul of the local politics it may be decommissioned (or in some cases destroyed).

The Guild members get training, lodging, and the other benefits of Guild Membership, and access to the Guild Bar and Grill, which is usually quite good, and not expensive for Members.  Overall, Guild Members think its a pretty damn good deal.  It keeps them organized, trained, and gives them a central location to socialize, trade information, and so on.

The Guild Castle itself is sectioned into four parts, one for each class, and is designed for the purposes of that the class to which it is assigned.   Fighters have a large open air training ground.   MU's have underground and above ground areas for their training in spells.   Clerics have an area devoted to their temples and religious activities.   Thieves have their own area.   The Thieves guild is tricky because they are commissioned by the Emperor, and as such live in a kind of twilight between being lawful citizens and outlaws.  As long as they do not break the Imperial Law during the course of their Adventures they are safe from the Guard.  However, as one could imagine, the intrigues within the confines of the Thieves Guild are rife, and the Emperor is often left to question the wisdom of allowing the Thieves Guild a general immunity to prosecution (except in the case of Imperial Crimes and Misdemeanors).  So the Thieves Guild is tricky, to say the least.  The only reason it exists is because the Grand Masters of the Guild all agree that Thieving Skills are essential for the success of their activities - and the Empire benefits from them in aggregate.   The Guild has compiled a considerable Library and Archive, and have amassed an interesting collection of rare artifacts and items from around the World.  

It is to these final components that the Emperor avails himself with utmost satisfaction, naturally enough.   One thing he does not do is set Mission Agendas, or commandeer Adventure Groups for his own purposes.  He has his own Imperial Force which is a different institution entirely for that purpose.

- Mark

In my high fantasy games they are august and honourable organisations that resemble the White Council or the Order of the Phoenix, formed to fight against a specific peril or threat.

In grittier settings they resemble The Sopranos Bada Bing...