Guild Artisan Variant: Merchant

Instead of an artisans' guild, you belong to a guild of traders, caravan masters, or shopkeepers. You don't craft items yourself but earn a living by buying and selling the works of others (or the raw materials artisans need to practice their craft). Your guild might be a large merchant consortium (or family) with interests across the region. Perhaps you transported goods from one place to another, by ship, wagon, or caravan, or bought them from traveling traders and sold them in your own little shop. In some ways, the traveling merchant's life lends itself to adventure far more than the life of an artisan.  

Guild Business

Guilds are generally found in cities large enough to support several artisans practicing the same trade. However, your guild might instead be a loose network of artisans who each work in a different village within a larger realm. Work with your DM to determine the nature of your guild. You can select your guild business from the Guild Business table or roll randomly.

d20 1d20	Specialty
1	Alchemists and apothecaries
2	Armorers, locksmiths, and finesmiths
3	Brewers, distillers, and vintners
4	Calligraphers, scribes, and scriveners
5	Carpenters, roofers, and plasterers
6	Cartographers, surveyors, and chart-makers
7	Cobblers and shoemakers
8	Cooks and bakers
9	Glassblowers and glaziers
10	Jewelers and gemcutters
11	Leatherworkers, skinners, and tanners
12	Masons and stonecutters
13	Painters, limners, and sign-makers
14	Potters and tile-makers
15	Shipwrights and sail-makers
16	Smiths and metal-forgers
17	Tinkers, pewterers, and casters
18	Wagon-makers and wheelwrights
19	Weavers and dyers
20	Woodcarvers, coopers, and bowyers

Variant: Guild Merchant

 
 

Features

Guild Membership

As an established and respected member of a guild, you can rely on certain benefits that membership provides. Your fellow guild members will provide you with lodging and food if necessary, and pay for your funeral if needed. In some cities and towns, a guildhall offers a central place to meet other members of your profession, which can be a good place to meet potential patrons, allies, or hirelings.   Guilds often wield tremendous political power. If you are accused of a crime, your guild will support you if a good case can be made for your innocence or the crime is justifiable. You can also gain access to powerful political figures through the guild, if you are a member in good standing. Such connections might require the donation of money or magic items to the guild's coffers.   You must pay dues of 5 gp per month to the guild. If you miss payments, you must make up back dues to remain in the guild's good graces.

Suggested Characteristics

Guild artisans are among the most ordinary people in the world—until they set down their tools and take up an adventuring career. They understand the value of hard work and the importance of community, but they're vulnerable to sins of greed and covetousness.

Traits

Dice 1d8	Personality Traits
1	I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can't help it — I'm a perfectionist.
2	I'm a snob who looks down on those who can't appreciate fine art.
3	I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick.
4	I'm full of witty aphorisms and have a proverb for every occasion.
5	I'm rude to people who lack my commitment to hard work and fair play.
6	I like to talk at length about my profession.
7	I don't part with my money easily and will haggle tirelessly to get the best deal possible.
8	I'm well known for my work, and I want to make sure everyone appreciates it. I'm always taken aback when people haven't heard of me.

Ideal

Dice 1d6	Ideals
1	Community: It is the duty of all civilized people to strengthen the bonds of community and the security of civilization. (Lawful)
2	Generosity: My talents were given to me so that I could use them to benefit the world. (Good)
3	Freedom: Everyone should be free to pursue their own livelihood. (Chaotic)
4	Greed: I'm only in it for the money. (Evil)
5	People: I'm committed to the people I care about, not to ideals. (Neutral)
6	Aspiration: I work hard to be the best there is at my craft.

Bond

Dice 1d6	Bonds
1	The workshop where I learned my trade is the most important place in the world to me.
2	I created a great work for someone, and then found them unworthy to receive it. I'm still looking for someone worthy.
3	I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today.
4	I pursue wealth to secure someone's love.
5	One day I will return to my guild and prove that I am the greatest artisan of them all.
6	I will get revenge on the evil forces that destroyed my place of business and ruined my livelihood.

Flaw

Dice 1d6	Flaws
1	I'll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless.
2	I'm quick to assume that someone is trying to cheat me.
3	No one must ever learn that I once stole money from guild coffers.
4	I'm never satisfied with what I have — I always want more.
5	I would kill to acquire a noble title.
6	I'm horribly jealous of anyone who can outshine my handiwork. Everywhere I go, I'm surrounded by rivals.