Rules, Setting Information, And Current Status
The Walrein
Vicinal Dragging for the Truth
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Welcome to PMD Guildmaster Sim!
What is this?
PMD Guildmaster Sim is a fast-moving forum adventure where readers vote on decisions to be made by the leader of an exploration guild in a PMD fantasy setting. The primary inspiration is Haspen’s ‘SpamKingdom’ series on the Bay12 games forum, but you may be more familiar with the video game ‘Reigns’, which is also sorta like this (the main differences being an increased variety of options for each choice and more complicated mechanics deciding the outcome of decisions).
How can I participate?
For most decisions, voting will be done by making a reaction on the post in question, with different reactions corresponding to different options. What specific reaction corresponds to what specific choice will (usually) be arbitrary; don’t expect that an option indicated with the
reaction will necessarily be a ‘funny’ choice, for example. Occasional decisions will require user-write ins; for these, simply make a post in the thread with your write-in option, in the format “> Do custom plan X”. You can quote a user’s write-in option in your post to vote for it. If a post requires multiple write-ins, make sure to indicate what each of your write-ins are for. Ex:
Most decisions will be open for around one or two days, possibly for less than a single day if support for a given outcome appears clear. When voting is closed for a particular option, I’ll edit the most recent post to declare this; please do not make or change a reaction on a post after this time.
For relatively unimportant decisions, voting ties between choices will be decided by what I feel would be most “in-character” for your guildmaster. If all options seem equally “in-character”, I will select an option randomly. Important decisions may have their voting period extended.
Additionally, feel free to comment in the thread to discuss the game or explain your voting rationale.
Death, violence.
What is this?
PMD Guildmaster Sim is a fast-moving forum adventure where readers vote on decisions to be made by the leader of an exploration guild in a PMD fantasy setting. The primary inspiration is Haspen’s ‘SpamKingdom’ series on the Bay12 games forum, but you may be more familiar with the video game ‘Reigns’, which is also sorta like this (the main differences being an increased variety of options for each choice and more complicated mechanics deciding the outcome of decisions).
How can I participate?
For most decisions, voting will be done by making a reaction on the post in question, with different reactions corresponding to different options. What specific reaction corresponds to what specific choice will (usually) be arbitrary; don’t expect that an option indicated with the
reaction will necessarily be a ‘funny’ choice, for example. Occasional decisions will require user-write ins; for these, simply make a post in the thread with your write-in option, in the format “> Do custom plan X”. You can quote a user’s write-in option in your post to vote for it. If a post requires multiple write-ins, make sure to indicate what each of your write-ins are for. Ex:Most decisions will be open for around one or two days, possibly for less than a single day if support for a given outcome appears clear. When voting is closed for a particular option, I’ll edit the most recent post to declare this; please do not make or change a reaction on a post after this time.
For relatively unimportant decisions, voting ties between choices will be decided by what I feel would be most “in-character” for your guildmaster. If all options seem equally “in-character”, I will select an option randomly. Important decisions may have their voting period extended.
Additionally, feel free to comment in the thread to discuss the game or explain your voting rationale.
Rolls and Modifiers
After a choice is made, if there is an element of uncertainty in how the chosen option plays out (there usually will be!), I will roll a ten-sided die to determine how well things went. (Yes, an actual, physical d10.) Positive or negative modifiers may be applied to the result of the roll based on situational factors; the most common of these will likely be from character traits, which are aspects of your character that give you a bonus (or possibly, a penalty) to rolls aligned with the trait. Ex: The ‘Charismatic’ trait gives you a bonus on rolls to persuade people to give you a better deal when negotiating, while the ‘Abrasive’ trait would give a penalty to that roll.
The final results of the d10 roll + modifiers will be interpreted as such:
1 or lower: Critical Failure! Your decision has gone wrong in some unexpected way, with possibly disastrous results.
2 to 3: Failure. Your plan didn’t work, or at least not nearly as well as you hoped it would.
4 to 5: Partial Failure. Although it wasn’t a total loss, your choice had a distinctly sub-par outcome.
6 to 7: Partial Success. Your plan mostly worked out, although there are ways in which it could’ve gone better.
8 to 9: Success. Your decision worked about as well as could be hoped for.
10 or higher: Critical Success! Your plan went even better than you imagined it would.
Note that although luck plays a large role in determining outcomes, the choices you make still have a significant impact. A ‘Success’ result for a bad plan might be worse than a ‘Failure’ result for a good plan!
Guild Stats
Your exploration guild has four main statistics representing how well it’s doing in different areas. At the beginning of each year, the guild’s record-keeper will present you with a scroll giving a zero to ten rating for each statistic. Higher ratings are better, with ‘5’ being the rating for an average guild, ‘8’ being an excellent rating, ‘3’ being a poor rating, and so on. The statistics are as follows:
Morale: This represents the overall mood of your guild’s members; both how happy they are in general, and how satisfied they are with your leadership. It can be increased by providing better amenities for your guild members and taking care of their personal needs. Making too many unpopular decisions can decrease morale, as can tragedy or misfortune befalling the guild.
Reputation: This represents how well-renowned and respected your guild is by everyone outside of it. It increases when your guild members do great deeds (or manage to take credit for them) and help out the community, and decreases when scandals become attached to your guild or guild members take the blame for notable public failures.
Wealth: A general measure of your guild’s financial health and available fiscal resources. Increases and decreases to this stat typically come about due to gaining or losing substantial amounts of money. Note that Wealth is separate from net profits; it’s possible for a guild to be losing money every month but still have a high Wealth stat due to having accumulated a lot of savings.
Strength: A measure of the overall quantity and quality of your guild’s exploration teams. It increases when you expand the membership of your guild or your teams become more experienced, and decreases when teams leave the guild or suffer lasting decreases to their capabilities for whatever reason. Acquiring better equipment for your teams can also improve Strength.
Any stat being at 1 or 2 represents a serious problem for your guild, and a stat being at zero (or less!) means your guild is in dire crisis. If any stat remains at zero or lower for two consecutive yearly reports, then your guild is forced to shut down, and it’s Game Over.
After a choice is made, if there is an element of uncertainty in how the chosen option plays out (there usually will be!), I will roll a ten-sided die to determine how well things went. (Yes, an actual, physical d10.) Positive or negative modifiers may be applied to the result of the roll based on situational factors; the most common of these will likely be from character traits, which are aspects of your character that give you a bonus (or possibly, a penalty) to rolls aligned with the trait. Ex: The ‘Charismatic’ trait gives you a bonus on rolls to persuade people to give you a better deal when negotiating, while the ‘Abrasive’ trait would give a penalty to that roll.
The final results of the d10 roll + modifiers will be interpreted as such:
1 or lower: Critical Failure! Your decision has gone wrong in some unexpected way, with possibly disastrous results.
2 to 3: Failure. Your plan didn’t work, or at least not nearly as well as you hoped it would.
4 to 5: Partial Failure. Although it wasn’t a total loss, your choice had a distinctly sub-par outcome.
6 to 7: Partial Success. Your plan mostly worked out, although there are ways in which it could’ve gone better.
8 to 9: Success. Your decision worked about as well as could be hoped for.
10 or higher: Critical Success! Your plan went even better than you imagined it would.
Note that although luck plays a large role in determining outcomes, the choices you make still have a significant impact. A ‘Success’ result for a bad plan might be worse than a ‘Failure’ result for a good plan!
Charismatic: Grants a +1 to all rolls to influence people or win them to your side. In situations where charisma can be used to full effect, such as making big, dramatic speeches, this gives a +2 bonus instead.
Explorer: Grants a +2 bonus to rolls to navigate and efficiently travel the world when exploring, and a +1 bonus to these tasks for expeditions organized by you if you aren’t personally joining them. Additionally, gives a +2 bonus to rolls to evade traps and find secret passages – whether in mystery dungeons or otherwise.
Fighter: Grants +2 to all rolls involving personal combat, and +1 to all rolls for directing a team or larger unit in battle.
Scholarly: Gives a +2 bonus to all rolls involving knowledge of law, arcane lore, or natural science. Sometimes, this knowledge can provide additional options for choices.
Sly: Grants a +2 bonus to all rolls involving espionage, forgery, larceny, or other forms of skulduggery. This applies equally to actions taken personally or by a directly-managed agent. Also, an appreciation of underhanded solutions may sometimes open up additional options for choices.
Explorer: Grants a +2 bonus to rolls to navigate and efficiently travel the world when exploring, and a +1 bonus to these tasks for expeditions organized by you if you aren’t personally joining them. Additionally, gives a +2 bonus to rolls to evade traps and find secret passages – whether in mystery dungeons or otherwise.
Fighter: Grants +2 to all rolls involving personal combat, and +1 to all rolls for directing a team or larger unit in battle.
Scholarly: Gives a +2 bonus to all rolls involving knowledge of law, arcane lore, or natural science. Sometimes, this knowledge can provide additional options for choices.
Sly: Grants a +2 bonus to all rolls involving espionage, forgery, larceny, or other forms of skulduggery. This applies equally to actions taken personally or by a directly-managed agent. Also, an appreciation of underhanded solutions may sometimes open up additional options for choices.
Guild Stats
Your exploration guild has four main statistics representing how well it’s doing in different areas. At the beginning of each year, the guild’s record-keeper will present you with a scroll giving a zero to ten rating for each statistic. Higher ratings are better, with ‘5’ being the rating for an average guild, ‘8’ being an excellent rating, ‘3’ being a poor rating, and so on. The statistics are as follows:
Morale: This represents the overall mood of your guild’s members; both how happy they are in general, and how satisfied they are with your leadership. It can be increased by providing better amenities for your guild members and taking care of their personal needs. Making too many unpopular decisions can decrease morale, as can tragedy or misfortune befalling the guild.
Reputation: This represents how well-renowned and respected your guild is by everyone outside of it. It increases when your guild members do great deeds (or manage to take credit for them) and help out the community, and decreases when scandals become attached to your guild or guild members take the blame for notable public failures.
Wealth: A general measure of your guild’s financial health and available fiscal resources. Increases and decreases to this stat typically come about due to gaining or losing substantial amounts of money. Note that Wealth is separate from net profits; it’s possible for a guild to be losing money every month but still have a high Wealth stat due to having accumulated a lot of savings.
Strength: A measure of the overall quantity and quality of your guild’s exploration teams. It increases when you expand the membership of your guild or your teams become more experienced, and decreases when teams leave the guild or suffer lasting decreases to their capabilities for whatever reason. Acquiring better equipment for your teams can also improve Strength.
Any stat being at 1 or 2 represents a serious problem for your guild, and a stat being at zero (or less!) means your guild is in dire crisis. If any stat remains at zero or lower for two consecutive yearly reports, then your guild is forced to shut down, and it’s Game Over.
Guild Name: The Starlight Guild
Current Headquarters: An aged stonework mansion in Seahaven’s upper-class residential district. Notable for having a dormant mystery dungeon entrance sealed up in the basement. Could perhaps do with some remodeling.
Guildmaster: Theseus Bewear
Guildmaster’s Traits:
Sly - Grants a +2 bonus to all rolls involving espionage, forgery, larceny, or other forms of skulduggery. This applies equally to actions taken personally or by a directly-managed agent. Also, an appreciation of underhanded solutions may sometimes open up additional options for choices.
Stats as of the most recent report
Morale: 5
Reputation: 3
Wealth: 2
Strength: 3
Officers
Deputy: Chrsya Noivern. A highly passionate Pokemon who exudes a natural charisma, appointed by you shortly after becoming guild leader. She prefers to focus on the ‘big-picture’ rather than on fiddly little details.
Record-Keeper: Oranguru. A diligent and taciturn Pokemon who became guild record-keeper during its first founder’s administration, and who has remained in the position ever since. You have no idea what his given name is, or exactly how old he is, but he’s been a reliable provider of common-sense advice and perspective for generations, and replacing him would be almost unthinkable.
Treasurer: Tessa Drapion. A frugal Pokemon who always seems to be worried about something or other. Can be quite creative when it comes to finding new ways to save money. Appointed during the administration of Xute Mismagius, removed by Lud Exploud, and re-appointed when you came to power.
Current Headquarters: An aged stonework mansion in Seahaven’s upper-class residential district. Notable for having a dormant mystery dungeon entrance sealed up in the basement. Could perhaps do with some remodeling.
Guildmaster: Theseus Bewear
Guildmaster’s Traits:
Sly - Grants a +2 bonus to all rolls involving espionage, forgery, larceny, or other forms of skulduggery. This applies equally to actions taken personally or by a directly-managed agent. Also, an appreciation of underhanded solutions may sometimes open up additional options for choices.
Stats as of the most recent report
Morale: 5
Reputation: 3
Wealth: 2
Strength: 3
Officers
Deputy: Chrsya Noivern. A highly passionate Pokemon who exudes a natural charisma, appointed by you shortly after becoming guild leader. She prefers to focus on the ‘big-picture’ rather than on fiddly little details.
Record-Keeper: Oranguru. A diligent and taciturn Pokemon who became guild record-keeper during its first founder’s administration, and who has remained in the position ever since. You have no idea what his given name is, or exactly how old he is, but he’s been a reliable provider of common-sense advice and perspective for generations, and replacing him would be almost unthinkable.
Treasurer: Tessa Drapion. A frugal Pokemon who always seems to be worried about something or other. Can be quite creative when it comes to finding new ways to save money. Appointed during the administration of Xute Mismagius, removed by Lud Exploud, and re-appointed when you came to power.
Team leaders are marked with an asterisk after their name. Note that not all teams have a specified leader. 'Mission Types' indicates what kind of missions a team usually takes, and is listed in rough descending order of preference. Keep in mind that some kinds of missions are much more common than others, so a team which has 'Rescue' listed as higher-preference than 'Escort' probably still does substantially more Escort missions than they do Rescues; what the ranking indicates is that they have a disproportionately high ratio of Rescue : Escort missions relative to the 'standard' team. For descriptions of mission types, see the 'What a Guild does' section of the 'Setting Information' spoiler.
Team Skyguard
Members: Joan Corviknight*, Wynna Flygon, Flinn Inteleon
Mission Types: Bounty, Scouting, Rescue, Escort, Tapping
Description: An elite team capable of taking on the most dangerous missions. Joan is a highly skilled fighter and good at making decisions under pressure. Since the recent death of her closest friend and former team leader Jess Talonflame, she’s been prone to dark moods and spending long periods of time alone, brooding. This has interfered with her administrative work, but Flinn Inteleon has taken up the slack without complaint. An extremely competent Pokemon in many areas, Flinn is especially skilled at using items to their fullest potential, and is probably the best in the guild when it comes to armed combat. He’s somewhat introverted and emotionally reserved, and it’s often difficult to tell what he’s thinking. Rounding out the team, Wynna is an energetic and outgoing Flygon who handles negotiations and other social tasks. Perhaps a bit reckless, and, after Jess’ death, has developed a concerning sadistic streak when fighting leks. Nevertheless, her raw talent and skill at improvising have been able to get her out of any bad spot she’s gotten herself into. So far, at least...
Team Sensation
Members: Tristram Slurpuff*, Jan Noctowl, Yves Indeedee
Mission Types: Rescue, Bounty, Escort, Tapping
Description: A veteran team where each member focuses on a different sense. Tristram, the group’s leader, can track down almost anyone with his incredible olfaction, be they the subject of a rescue mission or the target of a bounty. Jan covers vision, although her ears are almost as acute as her eyes. Lastly, Yves can detect emotions and packs a surprising amount of punch with his psychic moves.
Team Hodgepodge
Members: Liam Granbull*, Sargas Darmanitan, Gilliver Mothim, Martin Crabrawler
Mission Types: Escort, Tapping, Rescue
Description: An experienced team that lacks any clear theme. Liam Granbull is notable as having been the guild deputy in Xute’s time, where he was respected as a competent, if somewhat unimaginative, leader. Nowadays, though, his perpetual bitterness and tendency to harshly criticize others has left him with few friends. Contrarily, Sargas Darmanitan is one of the most popular Pokemon in the guild, due to his comedic wit, charm, and fun-loving attitude. He can’t handle dealing with pressure very well, which isn’t a good trait for a dungeoneer. Gilliver is an incorrigible romantic who seems to spend almost as much time pursuing his (constantly-shifting) crushes as he does on his guild duties. Lastly, Martin Crabrawler is a young and enthusiastic dungeoneer who never backs down from a fight. Even when he really, really should. And yet, despite everything, Team Hodgepodge almost always pulls through in the end, one way or another.
Team Long Shot
Members: Fiona Furret, Fierra Furret, Percie Ekans, Lerimi Dugtrim
Mission Types: Tapping, Escort
Description: A fairly new team founded by Furret sisters Fiona and Fierra. The two are nearly inseparable and have a lovey-dovey attitude, although they sometimes like to play little pranks on each other. Percie joined the team soon after it formed, and seems melancholy and somber a lot of the time. You wonder if she feels like a third wheel. Lerimi Dugtrim is the newest member, a three-headed Pokemon who’s enthusiastic and learning quickly despite experiencing occasional inter-head arguments.
Team Nap Attack
Members: Rin Jigglypuff, Chester Snorlax
Mission Types: Tapping?
Description: Rin and Chester can frequently be seen lying around the base, snoozing in odd locations. They claim to practice an obscure form of martial art based on fighting while asleep, which they say ‘unlocks the power of the subconscious’ and allows them to fight unburdened by fear or conscious delay. You suspect it’s just an excuse for them to laze around a lot.
Team Skyguard
Members: Joan Corviknight*, Wynna Flygon, Flinn Inteleon
Mission Types: Bounty, Scouting, Rescue, Escort, Tapping
Description: An elite team capable of taking on the most dangerous missions. Joan is a highly skilled fighter and good at making decisions under pressure. Since the recent death of her closest friend and former team leader Jess Talonflame, she’s been prone to dark moods and spending long periods of time alone, brooding. This has interfered with her administrative work, but Flinn Inteleon has taken up the slack without complaint. An extremely competent Pokemon in many areas, Flinn is especially skilled at using items to their fullest potential, and is probably the best in the guild when it comes to armed combat. He’s somewhat introverted and emotionally reserved, and it’s often difficult to tell what he’s thinking. Rounding out the team, Wynna is an energetic and outgoing Flygon who handles negotiations and other social tasks. Perhaps a bit reckless, and, after Jess’ death, has developed a concerning sadistic streak when fighting leks. Nevertheless, her raw talent and skill at improvising have been able to get her out of any bad spot she’s gotten herself into. So far, at least...
Team Sensation
Members: Tristram Slurpuff*, Jan Noctowl, Yves Indeedee
Mission Types: Rescue, Bounty, Escort, Tapping
Description: A veteran team where each member focuses on a different sense. Tristram, the group’s leader, can track down almost anyone with his incredible olfaction, be they the subject of a rescue mission or the target of a bounty. Jan covers vision, although her ears are almost as acute as her eyes. Lastly, Yves can detect emotions and packs a surprising amount of punch with his psychic moves.
Team Hodgepodge
Members: Liam Granbull*, Sargas Darmanitan, Gilliver Mothim, Martin Crabrawler
Mission Types: Escort, Tapping, Rescue
Description: An experienced team that lacks any clear theme. Liam Granbull is notable as having been the guild deputy in Xute’s time, where he was respected as a competent, if somewhat unimaginative, leader. Nowadays, though, his perpetual bitterness and tendency to harshly criticize others has left him with few friends. Contrarily, Sargas Darmanitan is one of the most popular Pokemon in the guild, due to his comedic wit, charm, and fun-loving attitude. He can’t handle dealing with pressure very well, which isn’t a good trait for a dungeoneer. Gilliver is an incorrigible romantic who seems to spend almost as much time pursuing his (constantly-shifting) crushes as he does on his guild duties. Lastly, Martin Crabrawler is a young and enthusiastic dungeoneer who never backs down from a fight. Even when he really, really should. And yet, despite everything, Team Hodgepodge almost always pulls through in the end, one way or another.
Team Long Shot
Members: Fiona Furret, Fierra Furret, Percie Ekans, Lerimi Dugtrim
Mission Types: Tapping, Escort
Description: A fairly new team founded by Furret sisters Fiona and Fierra. The two are nearly inseparable and have a lovey-dovey attitude, although they sometimes like to play little pranks on each other. Percie joined the team soon after it formed, and seems melancholy and somber a lot of the time. You wonder if she feels like a third wheel. Lerimi Dugtrim is the newest member, a three-headed Pokemon who’s enthusiastic and learning quickly despite experiencing occasional inter-head arguments.
Team Nap Attack
Members: Rin Jigglypuff, Chester Snorlax
Mission Types: Tapping?
Description: Rin and Chester can frequently be seen lying around the base, snoozing in odd locations. They claim to practice an obscure form of martial art based on fighting while asleep, which they say ‘unlocks the power of the subconscious’ and allows them to fight unburdened by fear or conscious delay. You suspect it’s just an excuse for them to laze around a lot.
Team Bloom
Members: Nell Lilligant*, Grover Cacnea, Trent Jumpluff, Calla Steenee
Mission Types: Tapping, Escort
Description: A team intended to help train Guild apprentices. Apparently the name got taken too literally, and then they were all grass-types. Nell was a seasoned dungeoneer somewhat past her prime, determined to pass her knowledge on to as many Pokemon as possible before retiring. Grover was a cautious and pragmatic explorer, and the anchor of the team in combat. Trent was enthusiastic, still made a lot of mistakes. Calla had a fair amount of innate talent, but was more motivated by a desire to get 'authentic experiencing' for auditioning for theatre roles as explorers than anything else.
Fate: After you attempted to convince Trent to move to Team Nap Attack to alleviate his low self-esteem, in the hopes that he'd look better than the slackers Rin and Chester by comparison, he interpreted this as himself being moved to a team of failures to get him to stop sabotaging Team Bloom. This produced a crisis of confidence in Trent, who quit the guild after losing a fight to Rin Jigglypuff, who overheard himself being described as a failure. Unfortunately, this created a domino effect where Grover left the guild because his best friend had left, and then Calla left because her two friends had left (eventually ending up joining the Metagross Guild), and then Nell retired since everyone on her team was gone.
Members: Nell Lilligant*, Grover Cacnea, Trent Jumpluff, Calla Steenee
Mission Types: Tapping, Escort
Description: A team intended to help train Guild apprentices. Apparently the name got taken too literally, and then they were all grass-types. Nell was a seasoned dungeoneer somewhat past her prime, determined to pass her knowledge on to as many Pokemon as possible before retiring. Grover was a cautious and pragmatic explorer, and the anchor of the team in combat. Trent was enthusiastic, still made a lot of mistakes. Calla had a fair amount of innate talent, but was more motivated by a desire to get 'authentic experiencing' for auditioning for theatre roles as explorers than anything else.
Fate: After you attempted to convince Trent to move to Team Nap Attack to alleviate his low self-esteem, in the hopes that he'd look better than the slackers Rin and Chester by comparison, he interpreted this as himself being moved to a team of failures to get him to stop sabotaging Team Bloom. This produced a crisis of confidence in Trent, who quit the guild after losing a fight to Rin Jigglypuff, who overheard himself being described as a failure. Unfortunately, this created a domino effect where Grover left the guild because his best friend had left, and then Calla left because her two friends had left (eventually ending up joining the Metagross Guild), and then Nell retired since everyone on her team was gone.
Medical Team
Members: Dr. Antoine Aromatisse*, Venn Chimecho
Description: Antoine is a well-learned doctor from a distant land, who uses a variety of strange but apparently effective treatments. He has a tendency to get agitated and go on rants about the low quality of the city’s medical supplies whenever his ideas don’t work out. Venn Chimecho is much more chill – perhaps too chill for a medic – and provides ‘aural healing’ to back up Antoine’s aromatherapy.
Kitchen Staff
Members: Yvonne Meganium*, Sal Teddiursa, Tybalt Numel
Description: Yvonne is a cheerful old chef with an extensive knowledge of recipes, considered one of the best in the region. Hired in Lud’s time, she draws a salary that’s perhaps more than you should really be paying, however much the guild members may appreciate her cooking. Sal acts as her assistant and official taste tester, while Tybalt maintains the oven fires.
Members: Dr. Antoine Aromatisse*, Venn Chimecho
Description: Antoine is a well-learned doctor from a distant land, who uses a variety of strange but apparently effective treatments. He has a tendency to get agitated and go on rants about the low quality of the city’s medical supplies whenever his ideas don’t work out. Venn Chimecho is much more chill – perhaps too chill for a medic – and provides ‘aural healing’ to back up Antoine’s aromatherapy.
Kitchen Staff
Members: Yvonne Meganium*, Sal Teddiursa, Tybalt Numel
Description: Yvonne is a cheerful old chef with an extensive knowledge of recipes, considered one of the best in the region. Hired in Lud’s time, she draws a salary that’s perhaps more than you should really be paying, however much the guild members may appreciate her cooking. Sal acts as her assistant and official taste tester, while Tybalt maintains the oven fires.
The world the game takes place on is called Novis. It’s a fairly typical Earth-like planet - a few large continents surrounded by oceans, an axial tilt creating seasons, a moon, orbiting a mid-sequence star, etc. Direct technological comparisons are kind of spotty, but in general the tech level is somewhere around the mid-sixteenth century of Earth. The printing press has been invented, but there’s no firearms.
In addition to Pokemon, ‘natural’ animals exist – nothing much larger than deer, though, at least on land. Carnivorous Pokemon mostly eat farm-raised giant rabbits or the like.
In addition to Pokemon, ‘natural’ animals exist – nothing much larger than deer, though, at least on land. Carnivorous Pokemon mostly eat farm-raised giant rabbits or the like.
Windhaven is a mid-sized settlement with an air-breathing population of about 20,000, situated in a natural harbor on the northern coast of Sommer, the world’s third-largest continent. It is an industrial hub, turning raw materials shipped to it by river or sea into fine furniture, sailing ships, bronze-work, musical instruments, carts, barrels, and other items. The only materials collected locally are fish, tin from nearby mines, and whatever is pulled out of the mystery dungeons. Most food is imported, as the surrounding terrain is hilly, rocky, and generally unsuitable for growing crops.
It is governed by an eighteen-member city council, who are responsible for writing laws, deciding on the yearly budget, and managing the (fairly limited) bureaucracy. Councilmon serve for non-consecutive 3-year terms, and each is elected by a single type of Pokemon. (Pokemon with two types are considered to have a ‘primary’ type which decides who they vote for). In theory, this ensures that all kinds of Pokemon are represented, although some complain that this gives types with a relatively small population, such as dragons, disproportionate power. Partly counterbalancing this is that laws cannot be passed until approved by a direct vote of the citizenry, although Pokemon rarely attend these votes unless a bill is particularly contentious, turning the process into something of a rubber stamp. Ties in the council are broken by the City Champion, who is the winner of a yearly unarmed fighting tournament. The Champion is also considered to be the city’s chief religious official, and presides over certain ceremonies. Some Pokemon worry that the tournament’s emphasis on unarmed fights has made the populace unprepared for modern combat, which relies heavily on the use of magic items.
Nine city judges serve as the city’s judicial system. Cases are heard by a randomly-selected panel of three to nine judges, depending on the importance of the case, who decide on the result by majority vote after a period of argument and investigation. There is a written code of laws, although it is not extensive and most cases are decided by precedent. Generally, only serious matters are brought before the city court, and smaller issues are usually settled by independent mediators.
In times of crisis, the city council can elect a Governor General for a half-year period, who serves as supreme commander of the army and has broad executive powers. This is something of an unusual occurrence, typically only happening once every 36 years or so. It is expected that the Governor General will lay down their command as soon as the crisis ends, and only doing so at the expiration of their term is seen as a sign of failure.
The city doesn’t quite have a standing army, although about 500 Pokemon train semi-regularly as part of the city militia. This militia is overseen by a permanent officer corps of around 50 Pokemon, most of whom have other jobs besides serving as officers. Up to a quarter of the city’s population could theoretically be mobilized to fight for brief periods.
It is governed by an eighteen-member city council, who are responsible for writing laws, deciding on the yearly budget, and managing the (fairly limited) bureaucracy. Councilmon serve for non-consecutive 3-year terms, and each is elected by a single type of Pokemon. (Pokemon with two types are considered to have a ‘primary’ type which decides who they vote for). In theory, this ensures that all kinds of Pokemon are represented, although some complain that this gives types with a relatively small population, such as dragons, disproportionate power. Partly counterbalancing this is that laws cannot be passed until approved by a direct vote of the citizenry, although Pokemon rarely attend these votes unless a bill is particularly contentious, turning the process into something of a rubber stamp. Ties in the council are broken by the City Champion, who is the winner of a yearly unarmed fighting tournament. The Champion is also considered to be the city’s chief religious official, and presides over certain ceremonies. Some Pokemon worry that the tournament’s emphasis on unarmed fights has made the populace unprepared for modern combat, which relies heavily on the use of magic items.
Nine city judges serve as the city’s judicial system. Cases are heard by a randomly-selected panel of three to nine judges, depending on the importance of the case, who decide on the result by majority vote after a period of argument and investigation. There is a written code of laws, although it is not extensive and most cases are decided by precedent. Generally, only serious matters are brought before the city court, and smaller issues are usually settled by independent mediators.
In times of crisis, the city council can elect a Governor General for a half-year period, who serves as supreme commander of the army and has broad executive powers. This is something of an unusual occurrence, typically only happening once every 36 years or so. It is expected that the Governor General will lay down their command as soon as the crisis ends, and only doing so at the expiration of their term is seen as a sign of failure.
The city doesn’t quite have a standing army, although about 500 Pokemon train semi-regularly as part of the city militia. This militia is overseen by a permanent officer corps of around 50 Pokemon, most of whom have other jobs besides serving as officers. Up to a quarter of the city’s population could theoretically be mobilized to fight for brief periods.
The first mystery dungeon appeared a little over 200 years ago. A Mienfoo poked his head into a little crack in a stone cliff, and instead of a damp cave, discovered a sunlit, labyrinthine garden. Pokemon nowadays find it hard to believe, but at the time, its appearance was seen as a positive development – it was dangerous, yes, but it was also novel, magical, wondrous. It was an age where mon were dedicated to investigating and explaining all the phenomena of nature, and if the dungeon appeared to be inexplicable, that just made the challenge more exciting.
Here are the key facts about Mystery Dungeons:
-Mystery dungeons are pocket dimensions which can be accessed by traveling through their threshold. The threshold can appear as any sort of gateway in the world – a cave mouth, a gap between trees, a door. There usually appears to be nothing unusual about the entrance itself – there’s usually a ‘buffer’ zone right after the entrance that blends into the surrounding area.
- They appear randomly at varying intervals. Once spawned, they can last several years before going away. Blockading an entrance to a dungeon will cause one or two new entrances to spring up nearby. It’s like cutting off hydra heads. Nevertheless, this is sometimes necessary when a dungeon threshold appears in a very inconvenient location, such as the front door of your house.
-They emit ‘calls’ targeting random Pokemon in the area. Called Pokemon feel a compulsion to enter the dungeon and travel into it up to a certain depth. If ignored, the urge to answer the call grows stronger over time. Most Pokemon are completely unable to resist it after a day or two, and need to be physically restrained from entering the dungeon after that point. If the call remains unanswered, the afflicted Pokemon will eventually enter a psychotic state where they delusionally believe themselves to be inside the dungeon, soon followed by a permanent coma. There is no known cure for a call other than for the Pokemon to descend into the dungeon as far as required.
-Mystery dungeons have themes based on natural or artificial locations. For instance, a mystery dungeon could have a hospital theme, and be filled with the sort of rooms you might find in a modern hospital – waiting rooms, operating rooms, MRI rooms, trauma centers, etc. Often, any single room will look normal – or almost normal – but the relative positioning of the rooms will be a chaotic jumble. Note that themes are often based off places and technology that don’t exist yet in the world of Novis. Tech taken out of the dungeons usually stops working – when dissected, the components are found to be arranged in a nonsensical manner.
-Dungeons have traps and magical items hidden throughout them. These are not scattered around the floor randomly – traps usually guard important areas, and magical treasures are usually secreted away in caches or storerooms. Traps tend to have at least a vague relation to the dungeon’s theme – opening a door to the ‘burn injury ward’ in that hospital dungeon might set off flamethrowers.
-There are no ‘feral Pokemon’ in this setting. Instead, dungeons are inhabited by Pokemon-like entities named ‘leks’. Leks appear as a normal species of Pokemon, and possess all the usual powers and weaknesses for a member of that species. However, they don’t feel pain and will ignore most injuries that aren’t immediately fatal. After receiving critical damage – or if dragged outside the dungeon – they dissolve into an inert substance called ‘lek goo’. They never seem to talk, but can act with intelligence.
Each of them takes on a role in the dungeon according to the theme – in that hospital dungeon, there could be ‘doctor’ leks who go around examining and performing operations on ‘patient’ leks, as well as ‘secretary’ leks who demand that the proper paperwork be filled out. They have little real understanding of the professions they’re imitating, and instead perform crude, twisted caricatures of those roles. You wouldn’t want one of those ‘doctor’ leks performing surgery on you.
When a Pokemon gets called into a dungeon, the leks assign them a role as well. The called Pokemon is not informed of this role, and feels no compulsion to act it out, but the leks will get upset if the called Pokemon deviates from how they feel they should be acting. For Pokemon who entered the dungeon without being called, it’s a bit different – the leks are often somewhat confused by such Pokemon, and usually end up assuming they’re in some sort of passive role. Leks are not by default hostile to these explorers, but can quickly become hostile if the explorers disrupt their routines or are observed undertaking suspicious actions.
-Every few hours to days, the dungeon refreshes itself, generating a new random layout that adheres to the same theme as before. This is preceded by an increasingly strong wind that blows through the dungeon at intervals, in addition to tremors in the ground. The exact moment of change is called “the crunch” - the walls of the dungeon close in on themselves, crushing everything inside. (In outdoor dungeons, the ground folds over on itself.) For a few minutes after the crunch, the dungeon cannot be entered, and when the walls open back up again, it has a new configuration, filled with fresh leks, traps, and treasures.
-There’s a limit to how many explorers can enter a dungeon at once safely. If more than about four enter at once, the leks will seem to realize something’s up, get agitated, and swarm the group of intruders. (Called Pokemon don’t count against this limit, though, as the leks treat them as expected, so a team of four won’t have problems if they’re escorting a called client.) For this reason, dungeon exploration teams are rarely larger than four members.
-Dungeons don’t have floors like they do in the games. The only way out of a dungeon is through the same way you came in – or, rarely, through an alternate entrance. (Teleportation doesn’t work across the threshold of a dungeon.) However, they do have ‘layers’. Everything described previously holds true for “layer one” of the dungeon. Layer two is a lot like layer one – it still has a theme – but it’s a lot more jumbled up. In the hospital dungeon’s layer two, there might be X-ray machines right in the middle of a cafeteria area. Traps are scattered about more haphazardly, and the lek’s understanding of their roles is even less coherent than on layer one. Deeper layers get increasingly surreal. The deepest anyone’s ever gone is layer five (in plausible accounts, at least).
-In addition to leks, more powerful creatures called ‘guards’ can be found on the lower layers. Sufficient disturbances can cause them to ascend to higher layers, but they suffer from a phenomenon known as ‘layer sickness’ while doing so, limiting the amount of time they can spend outside their ‘base depth’.
Here are the key facts about Mystery Dungeons:
-Mystery dungeons are pocket dimensions which can be accessed by traveling through their threshold. The threshold can appear as any sort of gateway in the world – a cave mouth, a gap between trees, a door. There usually appears to be nothing unusual about the entrance itself – there’s usually a ‘buffer’ zone right after the entrance that blends into the surrounding area.
- They appear randomly at varying intervals. Once spawned, they can last several years before going away. Blockading an entrance to a dungeon will cause one or two new entrances to spring up nearby. It’s like cutting off hydra heads. Nevertheless, this is sometimes necessary when a dungeon threshold appears in a very inconvenient location, such as the front door of your house.
-They emit ‘calls’ targeting random Pokemon in the area. Called Pokemon feel a compulsion to enter the dungeon and travel into it up to a certain depth. If ignored, the urge to answer the call grows stronger over time. Most Pokemon are completely unable to resist it after a day or two, and need to be physically restrained from entering the dungeon after that point. If the call remains unanswered, the afflicted Pokemon will eventually enter a psychotic state where they delusionally believe themselves to be inside the dungeon, soon followed by a permanent coma. There is no known cure for a call other than for the Pokemon to descend into the dungeon as far as required.
-Mystery dungeons have themes based on natural or artificial locations. For instance, a mystery dungeon could have a hospital theme, and be filled with the sort of rooms you might find in a modern hospital – waiting rooms, operating rooms, MRI rooms, trauma centers, etc. Often, any single room will look normal – or almost normal – but the relative positioning of the rooms will be a chaotic jumble. Note that themes are often based off places and technology that don’t exist yet in the world of Novis. Tech taken out of the dungeons usually stops working – when dissected, the components are found to be arranged in a nonsensical manner.
-Dungeons have traps and magical items hidden throughout them. These are not scattered around the floor randomly – traps usually guard important areas, and magical treasures are usually secreted away in caches or storerooms. Traps tend to have at least a vague relation to the dungeon’s theme – opening a door to the ‘burn injury ward’ in that hospital dungeon might set off flamethrowers.
-There are no ‘feral Pokemon’ in this setting. Instead, dungeons are inhabited by Pokemon-like entities named ‘leks’. Leks appear as a normal species of Pokemon, and possess all the usual powers and weaknesses for a member of that species. However, they don’t feel pain and will ignore most injuries that aren’t immediately fatal. After receiving critical damage – or if dragged outside the dungeon – they dissolve into an inert substance called ‘lek goo’. They never seem to talk, but can act with intelligence.
Each of them takes on a role in the dungeon according to the theme – in that hospital dungeon, there could be ‘doctor’ leks who go around examining and performing operations on ‘patient’ leks, as well as ‘secretary’ leks who demand that the proper paperwork be filled out. They have little real understanding of the professions they’re imitating, and instead perform crude, twisted caricatures of those roles. You wouldn’t want one of those ‘doctor’ leks performing surgery on you.
When a Pokemon gets called into a dungeon, the leks assign them a role as well. The called Pokemon is not informed of this role, and feels no compulsion to act it out, but the leks will get upset if the called Pokemon deviates from how they feel they should be acting. For Pokemon who entered the dungeon without being called, it’s a bit different – the leks are often somewhat confused by such Pokemon, and usually end up assuming they’re in some sort of passive role. Leks are not by default hostile to these explorers, but can quickly become hostile if the explorers disrupt their routines or are observed undertaking suspicious actions.
-Every few hours to days, the dungeon refreshes itself, generating a new random layout that adheres to the same theme as before. This is preceded by an increasingly strong wind that blows through the dungeon at intervals, in addition to tremors in the ground. The exact moment of change is called “the crunch” - the walls of the dungeon close in on themselves, crushing everything inside. (In outdoor dungeons, the ground folds over on itself.) For a few minutes after the crunch, the dungeon cannot be entered, and when the walls open back up again, it has a new configuration, filled with fresh leks, traps, and treasures.
-There’s a limit to how many explorers can enter a dungeon at once safely. If more than about four enter at once, the leks will seem to realize something’s up, get agitated, and swarm the group of intruders. (Called Pokemon don’t count against this limit, though, as the leks treat them as expected, so a team of four won’t have problems if they’re escorting a called client.) For this reason, dungeon exploration teams are rarely larger than four members.
-Dungeons don’t have floors like they do in the games. The only way out of a dungeon is through the same way you came in – or, rarely, through an alternate entrance. (Teleportation doesn’t work across the threshold of a dungeon.) However, they do have ‘layers’. Everything described previously holds true for “layer one” of the dungeon. Layer two is a lot like layer one – it still has a theme – but it’s a lot more jumbled up. In the hospital dungeon’s layer two, there might be X-ray machines right in the middle of a cafeteria area. Traps are scattered about more haphazardly, and the lek’s understanding of their roles is even less coherent than on layer one. Deeper layers get increasingly surreal. The deepest anyone’s ever gone is layer five (in plausible accounts, at least).
-In addition to leks, more powerful creatures called ‘guards’ can be found on the lower layers. Sufficient disturbances can cause them to ascend to higher layers, but they suffer from a phenomenon known as ‘layer sickness’ while doing so, limiting the amount of time they can spend outside their ‘base depth’.
There are a wide variety of different types of magical items in the world. These items can only be found inside Mystery Dungeons, and, despite significant efforts, cannot be created outside them.
Wonder Orbs: Plum-sized glass spheres that release a magical effect when broken. Pokemon can touch the orb and ‘attune’ to it to be included or excluded from its effect, depending on the kind of orb. Effects can include making all non-attuned creatures in the vicinity fall asleep, teleporting all attuned Pokemon to the location the orb was broken at, instantly killing whatever the orb breaks against, and other things.
Wands: Short wooden or metal rods that can be made to release a certain magical effect if held and willed to activate. Each wand only has one effect, and has a limited number of charges, usually not more than ten or so. They can’t be recharged.
Seeds: Magical seeds which have beneficial or deleterious affects when consumed. Of particular note are the blast seed, which detonates in a grenade-like blast when the seed’s shell is broken, and the reviver seed, which will resurrect the Pokemon carrying it if they die, consuming itself in the process.
Permanent Items: These are magical items with a passive effect, usually taking the form of a scarf, band, or ribbon. A Pokemon must touch and attune to an item in this class to gain its effect, and can only be attuned to one permanent item at once. Switching which item one’s attuned to only takes a few seconds with practice, so skilled Pokemon can quickly swap between them in battle.
Wonder Orbs: Plum-sized glass spheres that release a magical effect when broken. Pokemon can touch the orb and ‘attune’ to it to be included or excluded from its effect, depending on the kind of orb. Effects can include making all non-attuned creatures in the vicinity fall asleep, teleporting all attuned Pokemon to the location the orb was broken at, instantly killing whatever the orb breaks against, and other things.
Wands: Short wooden or metal rods that can be made to release a certain magical effect if held and willed to activate. Each wand only has one effect, and has a limited number of charges, usually not more than ten or so. They can’t be recharged.
Seeds: Magical seeds which have beneficial or deleterious affects when consumed. Of particular note are the blast seed, which detonates in a grenade-like blast when the seed’s shell is broken, and the reviver seed, which will resurrect the Pokemon carrying it if they die, consuming itself in the process.
Permanent Items: These are magical items with a passive effect, usually taking the form of a scarf, band, or ribbon. A Pokemon must touch and attune to an item in this class to gain its effect, and can only be attuned to one permanent item at once. Switching which item one’s attuned to only takes a few seconds with practice, so skilled Pokemon can quickly swap between them in battle.
The primary job of an exploration guild is to combat the phenomenon known as Mystery Dungeons, malevolent sub-dimensions which started appearing across the land over 200 years ago. These are the kinds of missions guild teams usually participate in:
Escort: Mystery Dungeons emit ‘calls’ to random Pokemon in the vicinity – an overpowering compulsion to enter the dungeon and descend to a certain depth. Ignoring the call – or being forcibly restrained from pursuing it – eventually leads to delirium, followed by permanent coma. There’s no known way of getting rid of a call other than ‘completing’ it by entering the dungeon and going as deep as necessary. Therefore, called Pokemon usually hire an exploration team to escort them into – and more importantly, out of – the dungeon. Although often viewed as unglamorous work by experienced teams, escort missions are an exploration guild’s bread and butter, and provide the majority of their income.
Rescue: Sometimes, a call will be so overpowering that a Pokemon will find themselves drawn into a mystery dungeon before they have a chance to hire an escort team. Other times, Pokemon may wander into dungeons by sheer chance, as their entrances typically appear completely unremarkable, blending into the surrounding terrain. When this occurs, a rescue mission must be launched to recover the Pokemon from the dungeon before the next ‘crunch’ occurs – a phenomenon where the dungeon’s walls collapse inwards as it re-configures its layout, killing almost everything inside. These are dangerous missions that are reserved for the most skilled teams, and are quite lucrative. Fortunately, they are substantially rarer than escort missions.
Tapping: Prevention is said to be the best form of medicine, and this is also true with mystery dungeons. When Pokemon enter a dungeon and plumb its depths of their own will, this reduces the number of calls the dungeon sends out. If done enough times, a dungeon will eventually become ‘tapped out’ and stop emitting calls altogether, or at a greatly reduced rate, and may disappear entirely. Going into a dungeon with the intent to produce this effect is known as a ‘tapping mission’. This mission is a common task for new teams who need to get used to exploring dungeons without the life of a client on the line. As useful a service as tapping is, it generates no direct revenue for the guild, aside from that derived from any treasure recovered on the mission.
Scouting: A mystery dungeon is at its most dangerous right after it first appears, when its hazards and peculiarities are yet unknown. As such, a new dungeon formation requires an elite team to venture in and uncover its properties. The government of Windhaven pays a bounty for detailed written reports of new dungeons, but the main draw for explorers is the prestige associated with being the first to enter and ‘scout’ one.
Bounty: When a Pokemon refuses to abide by the ruling of a court – or repeatedly avoids showing up to trial when charged with a case – they are declared an ‘outlaw’, a Pokemon who has shown contempt for the law and is therefore no longer under its protection. There are also certain crimes which are immediate grounds for outlawing, typically murder – defined as knowingly killing another Pokemon and then failing to inform the court in a timely fashion – or civic treason. Declaring a Pokemon an outlaw is viewed as a measure of last resort, and (in theory) only occurs for the most obstinate or heinous of Pokemon. The consequence of being decreed an outlaw varies - usually it only amounts to exile, but sufficiently angered victims may post a bounty for the outlaw’s death or capture. A few exploration teams reason that the tracking skills they use to find Pokemon lost in a dungeon, and the combat skills they use to fight off said dungeon’s inhabitants, make them naturally suited to collecting on these bounties. Sometimes, they’re even right! Even so, opportunities for these bounties are rare enough that there are really no teams who specialize in it. Many cases end up handled by private vigilantes unassociated with any guild.
Escort: Mystery Dungeons emit ‘calls’ to random Pokemon in the vicinity – an overpowering compulsion to enter the dungeon and descend to a certain depth. Ignoring the call – or being forcibly restrained from pursuing it – eventually leads to delirium, followed by permanent coma. There’s no known way of getting rid of a call other than ‘completing’ it by entering the dungeon and going as deep as necessary. Therefore, called Pokemon usually hire an exploration team to escort them into – and more importantly, out of – the dungeon. Although often viewed as unglamorous work by experienced teams, escort missions are an exploration guild’s bread and butter, and provide the majority of their income.
Rescue: Sometimes, a call will be so overpowering that a Pokemon will find themselves drawn into a mystery dungeon before they have a chance to hire an escort team. Other times, Pokemon may wander into dungeons by sheer chance, as their entrances typically appear completely unremarkable, blending into the surrounding terrain. When this occurs, a rescue mission must be launched to recover the Pokemon from the dungeon before the next ‘crunch’ occurs – a phenomenon where the dungeon’s walls collapse inwards as it re-configures its layout, killing almost everything inside. These are dangerous missions that are reserved for the most skilled teams, and are quite lucrative. Fortunately, they are substantially rarer than escort missions.
Tapping: Prevention is said to be the best form of medicine, and this is also true with mystery dungeons. When Pokemon enter a dungeon and plumb its depths of their own will, this reduces the number of calls the dungeon sends out. If done enough times, a dungeon will eventually become ‘tapped out’ and stop emitting calls altogether, or at a greatly reduced rate, and may disappear entirely. Going into a dungeon with the intent to produce this effect is known as a ‘tapping mission’. This mission is a common task for new teams who need to get used to exploring dungeons without the life of a client on the line. As useful a service as tapping is, it generates no direct revenue for the guild, aside from that derived from any treasure recovered on the mission.
Scouting: A mystery dungeon is at its most dangerous right after it first appears, when its hazards and peculiarities are yet unknown. As such, a new dungeon formation requires an elite team to venture in and uncover its properties. The government of Windhaven pays a bounty for detailed written reports of new dungeons, but the main draw for explorers is the prestige associated with being the first to enter and ‘scout’ one.
Bounty: When a Pokemon refuses to abide by the ruling of a court – or repeatedly avoids showing up to trial when charged with a case – they are declared an ‘outlaw’, a Pokemon who has shown contempt for the law and is therefore no longer under its protection. There are also certain crimes which are immediate grounds for outlawing, typically murder – defined as knowingly killing another Pokemon and then failing to inform the court in a timely fashion – or civic treason. Declaring a Pokemon an outlaw is viewed as a measure of last resort, and (in theory) only occurs for the most obstinate or heinous of Pokemon. The consequence of being decreed an outlaw varies - usually it only amounts to exile, but sufficiently angered victims may post a bounty for the outlaw’s death or capture. A few exploration teams reason that the tracking skills they use to find Pokemon lost in a dungeon, and the combat skills they use to fight off said dungeon’s inhabitants, make them naturally suited to collecting on these bounties. Sometimes, they’re even right! Even so, opportunities for these bounties are rare enough that there are really no teams who specialize in it. Many cases end up handled by private vigilantes unassociated with any guild.
Most exploration guilds – including the Starlight Guild – take a certain percentage of the reward money paid for rescue, escort, and scouting missions, typically between 10 to 30 percent. Additionally, guilds which officially sanction their teams going on bounty collection missions may take a cut from those as well. Guild explorers get to keep 100% of any treasure found in the dungeon on their missions, although many choose to sell unneeded items directly to the guild, rather than negotiate with potential buyers themselves. As guilds usually maintain agreements with merchant associations which allow them to get good deals on resold items, they can effectively charge a “middlemon’s fee” for this service.
In exchange for the money taken, guilds provide explorers with food, housing, medical care, access to training facilities, and useful equipment (This typically means renting out tools, armor, weapons, and permanent magic items. Teams are usually expected to provide their own consumables). Also, they provide a centralized place for people to post mission requests, which is also convenient for teams looking for a steady supply of missions to take.
In exchange for the money taken, guilds provide explorers with food, housing, medical care, access to training facilities, and useful equipment (This typically means renting out tools, armor, weapons, and permanent magic items. Teams are usually expected to provide their own consumables). Also, they provide a centralized place for people to post mission requests, which is also convenient for teams looking for a steady supply of missions to take.
There are three dungeon exploration guilds in the city of Windhaven. The Metagross Guild is the oldest and most prestigious of these, established in the year 730, about forty years after the beginning of the Age of Dungeons. Technically named ‘The Windhaven Society for Investigation and Management of Mystery Dungeons’, everyone just calls it the ‘Metagross Guild’ after its founder and current guildmaster, Arcan Metagross. Its headquarters are dug into the side of a small hill just outside of town, which is one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks. The guild has served Windhaven and its surrounding settlements faithfully for over a hundred years, although it’s become increasingly rigid and bureaucratic as time has passed, and some say that its members are starting to focus more on jockeying for position within the guild and gaining personal glory rather than assisting the community. In the year 851, disillusioned by conditions within the guild, Pym Reuniclus formed the Starlight Guild to provide the citizens of Windhaven with an alternative, and the two guilds have been rivals ever since. A third guild exists on the seafloor just beyond the harbor – the Coral Guild, founded in 772 to handle underwater dungeons. It is composed almost exclusively of ocean-dwellers, although it maintains a small above-water office near Windhaven’s docks.
The Starlight Guild was founded by Pym Reuniclus in 841 CR to provide an alternative to the increasingly sclerotic Metagross Guild. Its name was taken from the old observatory that served as the guild’s first base, famed for its giant telescope, although it soon became too cramped and was abandoned four years later. Under Pym’s leadership, the guild experienced rapid growth, hitting its peak membership and activity shortly before their death of old age in 866.
As planned, the position of guildmaster passed to Pym’s deputy, Xute Mismagius. Although not as ambitious or charismatic as her predecessor, Xute nevertheless proved a competent leader, and managed to maintain the size and status of the guild until 890, when she departed on an expedition to find the Cave of The First Sculpture. The Namer’s recently uncovered and translated diaries – which prompted the expedition – state that the cave was the site of the Shaper’s numerous failed attempts at carving a form for the first Pokemon, before finally succeeding in creating the Rhydon later known as The Namer. Unfortunately, the ship carrying the expedition got sucked into a suddenly-forming whirlpool that served as the entrance to an underwater mystery dungeon, and most members of the expedition were lost and presumed dead. Even the majority of the ship’s complement of fliers received calls from the dungeon, and were unable to escape. Only Jess Talonflame managed to fly back to the guild, weeks later, and inform everyone of what happened. As Xute’s deputy, Liam Granbull, had also been lost on the expedition, who would succeed her was unclear.
Following a long series of arguments and campaigning, Lud Exploud, the charismatic and well-connected leader of Team Discovery, became the next guildmaster. This led to an awkward moment when Liam Granbull turned up at the guild several months later. It turned out he had managed to escape the mystery dungeon which had doomed everyone else on the expedition, but had been delayed from returning to the guild – almost on the opposite side of the world – through a series of misadventures. Lud managed to maintained his position, but turned out to be a deeply corrupt leader, using the guild as a tool to enrich himself and further his political aims. He was ousted in 895 after one of his schemes was finally uncovered. Lud had been billing himself and his old Team Discovery as expert thief-catchers, who were responsible for recovering a large number of stolen items and returning them to their rightful owners – for a certain “finder’s fee”, of course. However, it was discovered that Lud had been working directly with the gang of burglars contributing to the city’s recent crime wave, effectively acting as their fence.
Ever crafty, Lud managed to flee the region – along with a significant portion of the guild’s treasury – before the evidence against him solidified, leaving behind a much-diminished guild mired in scandal and disorder.
As planned, the position of guildmaster passed to Pym’s deputy, Xute Mismagius. Although not as ambitious or charismatic as her predecessor, Xute nevertheless proved a competent leader, and managed to maintain the size and status of the guild until 890, when she departed on an expedition to find the Cave of The First Sculpture. The Namer’s recently uncovered and translated diaries – which prompted the expedition – state that the cave was the site of the Shaper’s numerous failed attempts at carving a form for the first Pokemon, before finally succeeding in creating the Rhydon later known as The Namer. Unfortunately, the ship carrying the expedition got sucked into a suddenly-forming whirlpool that served as the entrance to an underwater mystery dungeon, and most members of the expedition were lost and presumed dead. Even the majority of the ship’s complement of fliers received calls from the dungeon, and were unable to escape. Only Jess Talonflame managed to fly back to the guild, weeks later, and inform everyone of what happened. As Xute’s deputy, Liam Granbull, had also been lost on the expedition, who would succeed her was unclear.
Following a long series of arguments and campaigning, Lud Exploud, the charismatic and well-connected leader of Team Discovery, became the next guildmaster. This led to an awkward moment when Liam Granbull turned up at the guild several months later. It turned out he had managed to escape the mystery dungeon which had doomed everyone else on the expedition, but had been delayed from returning to the guild – almost on the opposite side of the world – through a series of misadventures. Lud managed to maintained his position, but turned out to be a deeply corrupt leader, using the guild as a tool to enrich himself and further his political aims. He was ousted in 895 after one of his schemes was finally uncovered. Lud had been billing himself and his old Team Discovery as expert thief-catchers, who were responsible for recovering a large number of stolen items and returning them to their rightful owners – for a certain “finder’s fee”, of course. However, it was discovered that Lud had been working directly with the gang of burglars contributing to the city’s recent crime wave, effectively acting as their fence.
Ever crafty, Lud managed to flee the region – along with a significant portion of the guild’s treasury – before the evidence against him solidified, leaving behind a much-diminished guild mired in scandal and disorder.
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: Dungeon Safety Seminars
: Decide not to implement a new policy this year.