Guilds in your OSR games Part 1; What is a Guild?

 Guilds in your OSR games, Part 1; What is a Guild?

Guilds can function as a great way to introduce factions within a setting that represent people that players frequently would interact with in a typical settlement. Rivalries and friction between competing guilds can provide unique or interesting factions in a civilized adventure location. At the very least, Guilds can provide background flavor to make settlements feel distinct from each other while the players pass through town. The following is an extremely simplified overview to explain what guilds are and their function within a medieval setting. My aim to help referees feel more informed when developing factions in a settlement for players to interact with.

Guilds are groups of skilled individuals that function collectively to supply a needed service or goods. The wikipedia page on Guilds opens with a great definition of guilds by describing them as “something between a professional association, a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society.” I personally feel like that description has a lot to chew on, and allows you; the referee; to play around with the various degrees each of those descriptors when developing a guilds in a town or city. Anyways, guilds can function as cooperative labor unions that maintain a high quality product or service, provide education as well as legal/wellness support for members overseen by high-ranking guild members. Membership to a  guild was usually restricted to privileged individuals that can pay to be members of a guild, but will in turn benefit from the resources those guilds provide. Guilds are expected to provide professional quality work and services by teaching the secrets of the trade to members that climb the ranks in their education within the guild. Many cities will have many guilds of varying size, with smaller guilds potentially being dependent on larger guilds. 

The main types of guilds are merchant guilds that control the movement of specific goods while craft guilds that control quality and knowledge of a specific type of goods for trade or they represent a specialized service profession such as doctors or judges. Merchant guilds benefit from a network of other traders and wholesalers while also providing protection for merchants whom travel. Craft guilds represent niche-but-skilled professions of specialists who have been thoroughly taught the secrets of a craft through the guild and provide or specialized product for trade or profession for hire. Merchant guilds members might become wealthy enough to own land essentially functioning as an aristocrat; otherwise known as a burgher. Craft Guilds keep their trade secrets under tight reins and are frequently discriminatory to whom they allow to enter their guild. This also means larger guilds will have deep pockets to pay for influence, protection, and invest in guildhouses for members to meet and rest at in important cities and towns.

 
Guilds will always try to maintain an exemplary reputation for its quality of work. Guilds have hierarchies within them, with entry level apprentices learning the basic secrets of the trade before becoming journeymen whom learn from masters within the guild before becoming masters themselves. Guild members that fail to maintain the quality that the guild expects from them would be punished; with persistent offensives leading to expulsion. They will always seek to maintain their professional reputation. Guilds also have to potential to blacklist, blackmail, or boycott. Any client who gets on bad terms with a guild could be banned from seeking services from any guild member, which could severely restrict options for a much needed product or service.

Due to Guilds trying to maintain their influence in an area, they might attempt to ruin any non-guild member competition within a city or region. This can range from general badmouthing to sabotage or worse if the guild masters are ruthless. Guilds might end up having monopoly over their trade in a region. In addition, guilds oftentimes have easier access to better product than non-guild members. This means they might have enough influence to control access to the means of production and hold political office. In summary, guilds are POWERFUL and INFLUENTIAL populated by privileged individuals. people in positions of power will usually work to maintain their status and benefits from their positions and guilds are no different. This makes them ideal as quest givers or a faction to align with or work against, depending on the player party's aims in their campaign.