Difference between revisions of "The Star Mages' Guild"

Latest revision as of 02:13, 7 July 2015

The Star Mages Guild is the principal organization sponsoring wizardly magic in New Elenna. It licenses members who are qualified to provide instruction in the arcane arts, and its members support one another through research and study.

Membership Requirements:

Class: Any arcane spellcaster (spontaneous casters restricted to max Tier 3)

Level: Any (certain arcane caster levels are required for advancement to higher guild status)

Race: Any. Most members are Noble Races, but Ignoble and even Monstrous Races have occasionally been admitted as long as they show arcane talent.

Alignment: The guild does not condone evil magic or acts, but neither does it pry into members' personal affairs.

Deity: Any. The guild does not concern itself with religious affairs other than theoretical differences in arcane and divine forms of magic.

Deed: For initial membership, no deed is required.

Oath: None (however, see Ethos and Responsibilities, below)

Fee: Variable (see table below)

Famous PC Members:

Firn’gaer, gnome Wizard (Children of Chaos)

Tishe’ Weaver, Mystic Theruge (Bloodpack)

Background:

The Star Mage Guild is a powerful, secretive group of wizards who seek to study magic and enhance their mastery over the arcane arts. From its headquarters in the Star Tower of Plateu City, the guild collects magical knowledge, monitors the status of Teucri artifacts throughout the Wold, and endeavors to increase the influence of both the guild and it’s members.

Star Mages are often haughty and arrogant, confident in their own superiority. They openly offer their services in exchange for favors or money, but also freely offer their snide and condescending opinions to the ignorant masses. Some, based on the personality of the mage, prefer simply to laud their own mastery of any given arcane situation.

However, even with their elitism and snobbery, the fact remains that the Star Mages are an exclusive group with impressive knowledge on a wide range of subjects

Ethos

Never perform a spell casting service to the public for free. If you are an adventuring member, you may cast spells upon your followers and party associates, as it increases your chances of survival.

Never share knowledge of any spell with anyone other than fellow Star Mages.

Do not act as an official representative of the Star Mage Guild unless specifically given permission to do so by the guild, and only within the confines of that permission. Mages of the Fourth Tier or higher are not bound by this restriction.

History

The Star Mages Guild formed in the first days of the Kingdom of New Elenna, when Yatimur the Great was king. In those early days the dispossessed Elennians had just moved onto the magical plateaus of the Elennian Peninsula, and they discovered the magical wonders of the Teucri and the Living Dead. Jhemesh Krenl became fascinated with their works and set off on a path of discovery to learn how he could harness the Teucri artifacts for the benefit of New Elenna. Through intense study and teaching others, he formed the Star Mages Guild, and he became the first Archmage of the Star. Keeping the secrets they found among themselves and selling the benefit to princes who would pay, Jhemesh was able to become one of the premier advisors of Taintamur King, the son of Yatimur. With prestige, power, and the growing knowledge of Teucri artifacts, the founders quickly spread their influence across the peninsula, eventually even having outposts in every known nation in the Northern and Southern Continents.

Jhemesh is now long dead, of course, but his guild lives on. Over the centuries, the Star Mage Guild has filled its library, established chapter houses throughout the Wold, and taught scores of students the fundamentals of magic.

Organization

Even more than arcane power, ancient secrets and arcane knowledge is the mark of the Star Mages Guild. Information on the Teucri and their artifacts, Woldian Space, and unusual magical items from far-flung races are all subjects a Star Mage is likely to have spent considerable time contemplating. Star Mages do not willingly share Guild findings with anyone else, often not even when it would solve obvious problems. Star Mages expect kings and powerful people to beg them for knowledge and help.

The Star Mages Guild is exclusive, only accepting those who achieve their spell casting through study and practice into their upper echelons. Spontaneous arcanists like Bards, Witches, or Sorcerers do not demonstrate the appropriate studious research that is required to fully join the Star Mages ranks. Such petty magical talents, although useful, are admitted with strict restrictions imposed on their advancement.

Adventuring wizards and wizards who diversify their training with martial or divine talents are also treated unfavorably, considered to be dabblers who do not have the focus or intelligence to commit themselves to full time study within the Star Towers. Despite this prevailing prejudice, many guild members and even some of the Archmages have began to acknowledge the specialized niche that adventuring wizards offer to the Star Mages.

The Star Mages are governed internally by the College of the Archmages, which consists of a single representative of each of the eight schools of magic. When there is a vacancy in the College, all the Tier 5 Star Mages vote in a magical conclave to select a replacement. To centralize the power of the College itself, one of their number is elected to be the Archmage of the Star. While there is certainly privilege and prestige associated with the position, he must carefully balance his will against the political landscape of the council.

The College of the Archmages

Archmage of Abjuration: Milet Waan - an aging human male who was once a priest of Alemi and still has close ties to the church.

Archmage of Conjuration: Bodeen Halisthan - a chubby halfling with a penchant for conjuring up pies. Bodeen is the only halfling to ever sit in the College. It's a fact that he's aware of but doesn't care too much about.

Archmage of Divination: Kielli Cardua - a middle aged human woman. She's the youngest member of the College and often feels that she has something to prove. She obtained her chair when Ahora Levinatra d'Mohi became Archmage of the Star.

Archmage of Enchantment: Sareetha Loradolsa - an old female elf. She's the oldest member of the College and has maintained her chair for a quarter of a century. She is happy in her position and has declined to serve as Star on two separate occasions.

Archmage of Evocation: Davik Stonefoot - a powerful old gnome who craves real power, though for what purpose is unknown.

Archmage of Illusion: Thov Yellis - Thov is an older human who has served in the College for 20 years, and his health is poor. It's expected that his chair will be the next vacancy in the College. He's not ready to give up his chair yet though, and his mind is still sharp.

Archmage of Necromancy: Georg Bolis - a big, hearty human male. Despite the typical image of necromancers, Georg is a happy-go-lucky wizard with a heart of gold, and he loves to hoist a mug of ale be it with a student or a fellow archmage. His demeanor has convinced more than 1 young wizard to pursue necromancy as a field.

Archmage of Transmutation: Jaret Jamusen - a stern half elf. Jaret is respected by his colleagues but is widely feared by the students in Star Tower. He's turned more than one student into a jackass for failing a lesson. The changes are temporary, of course, but they are humiliating just the same. Despite this tendency, he always has a number of students because those who earn his respect have a tendency to become great wizards.

Archmage of the Star: The Archmage Shafbaffum served in this position for a number of years, but after his abduction by the vile Sahaguin, a new Archmage of the Star was selected, Ahora Levinatra d'Mohi. She's a wise old half elf who has trained up a number of competent wizards. Ahora is a rare bird who was both an adventurer and expert in Divination. She used her experience and prescient knowledge to sponsor the opening of the Star Mages Guild to spontaneous casters, though not altering the culture of superiority.

Headquarters:

The headquarters of the Star Mages Guild is the Star Tower in Plateau City. There is a Main Floor which includes the entrance, general administration, and which is the only floor where non-guild members are allowed. The metal doors look like the night sky, always changing with the stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies. The doors have been used for teaching Jericho Space, and at times have even been a catalyst for divination, revealing significant events to the Wold before they occur.

Past the doors is a small room containing a teleportation circle aligned to all eight upper floors of the tower. Each floor corresponds with one of the nine schools of magic. Each floor has study nooks, a lounge with leather chairs and wooden panelling, a meeting/board room, and a small apartment on each floor for the “mage in residence.”

In addition to the common rooms on each floor, each level has a library and lab that are separated into 5 Tiers: Journeyman, Arcanist, Master, Grand, and Star Mages (Novices are “Tier Zero”). Magical protections (constantly updated and changed) ensure that only the correct Tier of Wizard is able to access that Tier of Library.

There are also chapter houses in the following known locations: South Harbor, Amberlund, Dourscale, Tumblevoid, and Wellogy in New Elenna; Floating City; Fokos in Fargunia; Isumbre in Zarthmoor; the City State of Osto; and in Hook City of the Southern Continent. Each Chapter House has a teleportation circle that connects to Star Tower. The Star Mages are also rumored to have agents and representatives in such locations as Dirt City, somewhere in Aisildur, the Taur Islands, and in the city of Rum.

Politics:

Star Tower is closely tied to the government of Plateau City, and the Star Mages frequently advise the High Lord Mayor. While Shafbaffum served as Archmage of the Star this relationship was especially close, and as a result, the Star Mages Guild has had difficulty expanding its membership beyond the borders of New Elenna. Chapter houses in other nations are regarded as suspect and as possibly dangerous. Thus the guild has only a minor presence in states that are more or less friendly with New Elenna such as Zarthmoor, Fargunia, and Osto, and it has no official presence at all in less friendly areas, notably Aisildur and the Emerald Kingdom. As a result, Ahora Lveinatra d'Mohi is seeking to de-emphasize Star Tower's relationship with the office of the High Lord Mayor while remaining cordial at the same time. She wants to expand the guild, but with limited success so far.

Benefits:

The Star Mages Guild accepts any being of any race who can cast arcane spells because of study. Spontaneous casters are allowed, but are often looked down upon. Further, the Star Mages only consider Wizards to be truly capable of becoming a contributing Star Mage. Spontaneous arcane casters are allowed to join, but find their ability to advance in the guild stymied by prejudice.

When determining rank ("Tier") in the guild, count only arcane caster level. Note that unless they are multi-class wizards, spontaneous casters cannot go above the Grand Mage rank. (See table below)

A member can purchase multiple Tiers at the same time and receive all benefits of all previous Tiers at once.

PCs will annotate the Tier and Cost as part of their Total Wealth on the PC Sheet just like a magic item. Benefits are included in the cost.

Specific Star Mage Guild Benefits

Skill Point Gain: Upon entering Tier One, and on entering each subsequent tier, members gain two free bonus skill ranks that can be put into Spellcraft, Use Magic Device, Knowledge (Any), Craft: (Associated with appropriate magical craft feat), and Profession (Librarian or Scribe). No skill can receive more than 2 skill ranks from this ability.

Max Spell: Members can scribe spells into their personal spell book while at a Star Mage Library or Lab and only pay the scribing components cost. Mages may not scribe any spell above the Max Spell limit in the above table.

Library: Members receive a +2 circumstance check for any Knowledge or Craft check made while at a Star Mage chapter house.

Lab: Any guild member may teleport from one Star Mage chapter house to another Star Mage chapter house for free. Any companions must pay usual spell costs per core rules.

Star Heart I: A member receives a silver star pendant or brooch (taking up no item slot) which provides a +1 Tecuri bonus to Concentration checks.

Fulcrum I: A gem added to member's star pendant (still slotless) that acts as a Pearl of Power, level 1. For spontaneous casters, the Star Heart provides one additional 1st level spell known while worn. The spell chosen cannot be changed unless the wearer is within a Star Tower library. Witches may re-cast a spell previously cast earlier that day, with the usual ley checks required.

Star Heart II: The member's Star Heart Tecuri bonus to Concentration checks increases from +1 to +2.

Fulcrum II: The member's gem now acts as a Pearl of Power, level II (and no longer as a level I Pearl).

Memory Stone: An additional multicolored gem is added to the member’s Star Heart. Once per day, using a full round action, the Star Mage is able to Take 20 on a single skill check based on Intelligence (not including Spellcraft checks to craft magic items).

Responsibilities

Membership in the guild includes a role playing cost. In order for a Star Mage to advance in Tier, the mage must demonstrate more than raw power. That mage must be a member in good standing and must increase the knowledge of the guild. These role-playing costs are designed to provide character evolution for the player character and possible adventure hooks for the DM. This can be an easy interaction between modules or be a mini-adventure in and of itself!

In addition, members of the Star Mages Guild have further responsibilities to the organization:

Good Standing: At each level, the DM determines if the member has kept the ethos of the Guild (see above). If an Archmage determines that the member has failed to keep the restrictions of the Guild, that member is banned from access to Library and Lab. Further, the StarHeart, Fulcrum, and Memory Stone all cease to function. Member benefits can be restored by performing a mission to the benefit of the Star Mages Guild.

Summons: Members are required to respond to the summons of an Archmage or a member of a higher Tier. They are not, however, required to obey any orders if an accommodation is not reached.

Teach Class: The member must teach three classes at a Star Mages Guild chapter house, in a skill in which they can succeed with a “Take 10” on a DC 17 or better.

Write Report: The member must prepare a "Book" or "Report" on some field of magic using Know Arcana, Spellcraft, or UMD. DM may use the report in future Wold adventures.