The Lantern Guild


The oldest and largest guild of casters in the human lands is the Lantern Guild. Technically it is an association of guilds cooperating with each other and sharing some leadership and resources, Hereafter the word guild is referring to a specific one such as Black, Blue, etc.
The Lantern is the iconic symbol as it represents the light in the darkness and leading people down the paths of civilization. It relies on Affinity and Book/Path magic, though a few members also practice other systems.
It is composed of several sub guilds organized along certain professional lines and each is represented with its own lantern symbol.


Lanterns Guild Rank general guidelines and information

Members are organized and rated in two separate but related ways. Magical power and skill (Circles) and political power (Rank).
Circles
  • First Circle: Ritual Magic (Lantern), all guild Affinity skills, style perk
  • Second Circle: All the above at skill 12+ and Magery (Affinity)
  • Third Circle: Ritual Magic and at least one Affinity at skill 15+
  • Fourth Circle: All the above skills at 15+ and Magery (Affinity) 2+
  • Fifth Circle: As above and Magery (Affinity) 3+
  • Sixth Circle: As above and at least one Reflection. This is a rare rating and gets its name from a mysterious sixth finger.
Note: Each separate guild has its own Style perk. This grants a license to operate and a limited Claim to Hospitality granting the +3 reaction mod for AR and most interactions with that specific guild branch. However ALL guild branches will offer shelter and some assistance, though without the usual +3 bonus. Dues are only required for the designated primary guild but members are expected to help all branches as needed, especially those they have specifically registered with (have the style perk).
The style perk allows full improvisation when casting using any known Affinity for that guild/style. Mages often learn Affinities from other guilds and having extra style perks is not uncommon - even if a mage does not learn all of that styles Affinity skills.  The style perk is capped at 5 points which grants familiarity with every Lantern Guild.

Guild Organization

Lantern Guild Political Information
Each Lantern Guild is run under it’s own guidelines and rules but all work with a common charter. They meet once every ten years for a High Council meeting where the highest representatives discuss the interests of the Guild and how to further them. This is a big event and many come from all over the world to participate and learn what the other chapters are doing. The Guild is the most widely recognized human secular magic organization and has great influence. Technically it has no authority over anyone but it’s members. It is still consulted in many magical matters and is considered the legal default Guild in most provinces and kingdoms. The politically most powerful Lantern Guilds are the Blue, Green, Red, Shadow, and White Lanterns but this may vary in some locations where a specific Guild helps the areas major needs.
  

General Charter

1. The purpose of the Lantern Guild and its chapters is to promote the economic potential and advancement of its members.
2. The Lantern Guild is organized into Branches (magic specialties) and Chapters (one chapter house per community), with cities and some other areas having satellite houses reporting to a chapter house.
3. Members are listed on the rolls by rank and circle and senior members are responsible for junior members and have increasing responsibility to the Guild. Dues are based on rank.
4. Each chapter house will be registered with the Guild headquarters and all chapter houses are expected to keep current on other houses and current events as affects the Guild.
5. Hospitality. All chapters will make basic services available to members in good standing with the Lanterns Guild no matter what chapter or guild branch they belong to. Basic Services include but are not limited to basic sleeping and personal gear storage, local information, study room and employment notices.

Political Power and Ranks

Rank –1 (-5 points) Duty *All the time (-10) [-15]
The lowest of the low. This rank is reserved for applicants who cannot afford formal apprenticeships. They are assigned many of the lowest tasks in the guild in order to build up enough guild credit to pay for their training. They are expected to live in the guild halls and be on call day and night to meet the demands of the guild.
Rank 0 Apprentice (0) Claim to Hospitality (5) [5]
The standard apprenticeship rank. At this level you are undergoing training, typically in a formal situation under a specific teacher. Some, undergo this training on the road traveling from town to town but they are not allowed to sell their skills in magic. At this level the variation in training is quite large and you have some who have yet to learn their first ritual and others who have mastered many but are reluctant to apply for more senior rank. This is the first level at which your Aura is marked by the guild to show your membership and rank. Note that above this rank the character must be a member in good standing for at least as many years as the rank to which they hold. So rank 1 requires at least a year membership while rank 4 requires at least 4 years membership.
Rank 1 Journeyman (5) Duty Occasional <9 (0) [5] Dues $25/month plus commission fees
At this rank the guild member has passed tests ensuring competency with at least 5 different spells in the College belonging to the Guild (10 spells for Gold Lanterns). Members may sell their services through the guild with the guild getting 10% of the pay for brokering and administrative related fees. Members who are on the road are encouraged to pay in advance but are typically placed in good standing when they come back to Civilization and pay their back dues. If they are caught practicing their magic for pay while not in good standing or on a waiver they are penalized heavily with fines, duties or even forfeiture of guild membership.
Rank 2 Mage (10) Duty <12 (-5) [5] Dues $50/month plus commission fees and 10 hours a week unpaid service.
Members at this are the meat and bread of a guild and spend their time assigning tasks to apprentices, gathering and posting guild related news on the boards, brokering and interacting with the other organizations in the area. They must pass a test demonstrating competency at administration and at least 10 spells in the College belonging to the guild with share strength among them.
Rank 3 Master Mage (15) Duty <9 (0) [15] Dues $75/month plus commission fees and at least 10 hours a month paid service.
Members at this rank may be teachers and must pass proficiency tests demonstrating the abilities of Rank 2 plus mastery of at least two Affinities (Skill 15+) and they are expected to have Administration skill.
Rank 4 Grand Mage (20) Duties as required, Status 1+ (5), Rep+2 local guild members (3+) [28]+ Dues $100/month, plus
This is the rank of the typical chapter guild master. Often this rank comes with a salaried position that more then covers the dues. Expertise in all the guilds Affinities is required at mastery level (15+) to achieve this rank as well as Administration 14+ and some level of Diplomacy.
Rank 5 Adept (25) Status 2+ (10) Rep+1 all Lanterns (5) [40] Dues $200/month plus commissions
The most senior rank all but the rarest members achieve. At this point the member is pretty independent and either in charge of a large guild chapter or reports to one. Besides the skills and spells required by the lower ranks mastery of economics and merchant skills are required as well as some competency with diplomacy.
Rank 6 Grand Adept (30) Status 3+ (15) Rep+1 any mage or magical scholar(5). [50] Dues $250/month
To achieve this rank the member must have researched something major as determined by the guild leaders or led the enchantment of a particularly famous and noteworthy magic item or permanent spell that reflects the guild directly. This rank is awarded in a special ceremony by the High Council at the High Councils festival of Lanterns held once every ten years. It is a great honor rarely achieved. Note that at this level and above commission fees are not paid unless guild resources are used in the spell casting or its preparation.
Rank 7 Guild Master (35) Status 4+ (20) Rep +2 any mage of the Commonwealth (10) [65] Dues $500/month
This is the senior ranking of a guild and only one exists for each lantern guild.

Member benefits and Local Chapters

1. Chapter houses maintain a library for self study, act as brokerage houses for their members and even provide emergency shelter.
2. Chapter houses come in many varieties but a rating system has been devised and is reasonably adhered to enough to give the traveler a pretty good idea of what to expect.
I.     One Star House
No resources available for research here. Basically this chapter house is a mage and perhaps a few apprentices.
II.    Two Star House
A very modest library and basic equipment needed to preform most skills relevant to the guild is available.
III.  Three Star House
Good resources provide +1 to most Research and Lore skills relevant to the guild.
IV.    Four Star House
Resources provide +2 to most Research and Lore skills relevant to the guild.
V.      Five Star House
Resources provide +3 to most Research and Lore skills relevant to the guild.

3. The learning fees for members in good standing of a house are halved for in house skills. No special fees are charged for in house use and access to the standard library. Members in Good standing of another house are charged $5 a day for use of the library.

About The Magic

Lanterns use a house system of magic I call Affinity Magic which is based on a combination of Ritual Magic (Not Ritual Path, but the one introduced in GURPS Basic,  p. 242), Book/Path, and Realm Magic.
The rules are only available to my players, though hints are on the site for their convenience. Hopefully someday I'll get it published!
  • Ritual Formula or Form magic is learned by all and does not require magery. Spells take at least 10 minutes to cast.
  • Mandalas are able to be cast in a single turn so are suitable for adventurers. They require Magery (Affinity) which can be purchased as an alternate to other forms of Magery or Control Mana [20], though no higher than the base level.
  • Thaumerturgy uses the same systems but adds a lot more oomph by employing Reflections (Realms). This is rare and typically only used by prodigies and senior guild members.

They can benefit from ceremonial castings using multiple casters and even spectators. This is typically done for large area spells such as blessings of crops, ships and weather spells.
My players have access to the rules but since I hope to publish it officially I am not posting it here.  Also there is too much overlap with the inspirational content, such that publishing them in an easily understood format would violate SJG copyright.

GM Note

Some of the Guild pages list spells from GURPS Magic as placeholders for ideas and examples of rituals and spells that may be appropriate to the guild.
Also there are many more rituals and spells that could be listed. Path spells use the system in Thaumatology but as there is no published design system I created some using my own rules and posted them for viewing.

Some Guilds get much more love and detail than others, this is based on player demand and GM inspiration.  Feel free to comment with suggestions or requests and I will add what I can as soon as I can.

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