Guilds of Karameikos

Unless otherwise stated, the following Guilds exist and have authority only in the Grand Duchy of Karameikos. That is not to say that other nations do not have analogous Guilds or organizations, or even that the foreign Guilds do not have relations with Karameikan Guilds. For instance, the Moneychanger's Guild, while it only has "branches" within Karameikos, has treaties with say the Daroki Guild of Moneylenders that will enable PCs to withdraw funds while in Darokin (at a slightly higher interest rate).

Moneychanger's Guild

Established in 980 AC, the Moneychanger's Guild acts as the de facto Karameikan bank and pawn shop. The main function of the Guild is to facilitate the exchange of Karameikan coinage with foreign/obsolete currency. In other words, they will convert that chest full of old Traladaran gold pieces into Karameikan coin . . . for a small fee, that is. In addition, they have grown to act as a bank as well as a commodities exchange. The bank function allows a PC to make a "deposit" anywhere within the Duchy and withdraw it at a later time, wherever they happen to be within the Duchy (and, as stated above, potentially elsewhere as well). The Guild also accepts non-coin treasure and will pay the PCs a given percentage of its value. The above services essentially provides a way to hand-wave a bunch of the annoying minor stuff such as hauling large quantities of coin around, searching for a buyer for jewelry, etc. Rates are as follows:

• Deposit. Coinage, regardless of origin, may be deposited with the bank at no charge. Withdrawals are made with a 5% fee. Note that in some smaller towns there may be a limit to the amount of cash readily available. Funds may be "withdrawn" anywhere a Guild office exists.
• Gem conversion. The Guild will pay face value -10% of gems brought to them. They will convert coins to gems at the same (10%) rate. Note that if a PC wants to get gems instead of coins from their account they pay the 10% rate, not a combined rate of 15%.
• Jewelry and Goods. The Guild will purchase jewelry and other valuables at a rate of face value -10% of items costing up to 1,000.00 gp. A 15% fee applies for valuables worth more than 1,000.00 gp.

Wizard's Guild

The Wizard's Guild of Karameikos was established fairly recently, within the past five years, as a means of increasing and training the Duchy's pool of magic-users. Each city/town of at least modest size have a Guildmage in residence; the Guildmage, in addition to providing their services to the town in general, is responsible for recruiting new members, maintaining the local Guild library and laboratory, etc. Only in Threshold is the Guildmage located outside of town, due to the prohibition on spell-casting within city limits. In order to join the Guild a magic-user or elf must be at least 1st level. They need to be sponsored by either another Guild member or a reliable, well-known spellcaster. The dues to join the Guild are 100 gp a year (see below). In addition, Guildmembers are expected to act to protect the Duchy's interest when required (essentially, they are required to join a ducal militia in case of war, and there is also a reasonable expectation the wizard/elf will act to protect citizens when asked) as well as contribute any new spells they find/develop to their local Guild library.

Members of the Guild are given a brooch magically attuned to the individual to identify them as a Guild member in good standing.

Mechanical Effects

• Spell Availability. As a general rule, each Guild library will have all low levels spells listed in the Dark Dungeons Rulebook, and will likely have others not listed (ask the GM).
• Note that the below refer to Table 11-2 on page 146.
• Reduced Cost. If learning a spell from another Guild member, the cost listed on Table 11-2 is reduced by 25%. So, if studying with a 3rd level magic-user, the fee would be 75 gp/week of study.
• Research. Any solo research done in a Guild library has a 10% bonus to the base chance of learning the spell.
• Fees. Note that they fees for membership follow the costs given in Table 11-2. At 9th level, for instance, the yearly dues are 500 gold/year.