Guilds

About Guilds and Orders on Avlis -- Sorted by Purpose -- Guilds' In Game Locations

The word "guild" here is actually a misnomer. Guilds in Avlis refer to organizations run by players. While some indeed are crafting and trading guilds focused on certain skills like alchemy or blacksmithing, others are religious groups, druid circles, monk enclaves, or just groups of people with similar interests. Guilds are a great place to meet PCs who have interests in common with your PC. They are also good places to find other PCs to adventure with or gain support from.

While a DM sponsor is necessary when a guild is initially formed, after that the organization is wholly run by players. Guilds get their own private forum in the Avlis forums to discuss guild matters. They also get guild tokens, items they can wear that identify them as members of that guild. Some guilds even have their own uniforms and magic items.

To join a guild it is best to ask around about that guild in-game by speaking with PCs. If you are unable to find a member of that guild online (perhaps due to time zone differences), then it is acceptable to send a PM to the moderator of the guild's forum.

Guild Types

There are TWO kinds of guilds on Avlis: One kind created by players, and one kind created by the people who made Avlis.

These differences are very practical, and you should keep them in mind.

Guild Type 1: Player-Made Guild

Examples of this are STEAL, AAAA, AAKN, Order of --Insert Here--.

Players conceived of and made these guilds. They thought them up, and they proposed them to DM's. The process then began for them to become manifest on the server.

ICly, the members of these guilds are only Players (NPC merchants don't count). So if Order of --Insert Here-- has 6 PC's, then ICly, the ENTIRE Order has 6 people in it.

If I were ever to write a sourcebook for Avlis, there would most likely not be any mention of these groups, for many reasons, possibly for legal ones too.

Guild Type 2: Built-In Avlis Guild

Examples of this are both M'Chek/T'Nanhsi armies, Raven, Shadow Dirks, Church of --Insert God name--, Elysia Defense Force (EDF), Government of --Insert country/city--, and eventually the Mage Orders

"Guild" is actually a bad name for these groups. They are not guilds. Guilds are groups that players use to get together socially and fullfill some common goal they have among themselves. These groups don't do that. These groups are an integral part of Avlis' religious, social, government, and magical structure. They are VERY different from typical guilds.

For example when you are in Raven, you are not part of a guild with 20 people in it. You are part of a guild with 20 *PC'* in it and about a thousand *NPC* thieves. Someone who is a high cleric of a church in an area is not just in control of 6 or 8 clerics played by PC's, they are in control of hundreds or thousands of followers of their god in their area, few of which are actually represented by NPC's.

Having said all that, depending on what kind of group you belong to (type 1 or 2), your group and its members will be treated differently by not necessarily the DM's, but the WORLD itself. The DM's are only a manifestation of that. Sometimes, for example, when something is done against a type 2 organization and it is only witnessed by a DM, the DM will report it to the PC leader of that organization. Why? Because there are THOUSANDS of members of that organization, and chances are that one of them saw you do it. Just because it was not a PC, doesn't matter. It's not DM favoritism, it's the world reacting to your actions. Still, the DM's only do it when it would make sense in that context.

Creating Your Own Player Run Guild

There are some criteria that your guild must match before getting official guild status on Avlis:

Your guild must fit in with the existing background of Avlis (this is the most important one)
Your guild must have a serious group of players that are active enough to support its continued existence. Somewhere in the region of 8 to 10 characters that are on regularly is what you should aim for at the least.
You need a DM sponsor. One of the DMs must agree to help you get organised as a guild and he will be there for the guild to ask the questions from.

Benefits

The right to guild items
The right to an own private discussion forum
The right to build a guild house somewhere (you still have to pay for it, but there's some things that are allowed for guild houses that we wouldn't even consider in a regular PC house).
You have a DM that guides your guild at least in OOC matters.

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