Guards & Mercenaries

You can discuss how the Proskur guards and mercenary guild should work in this forum thread.

A character takes a test to see if they qualify as a guard. This test examines their alignment to make sure no one who is either chaotic or evil join the Proskur guards. Guards can’t be chaotic because guards are charged with upholding the law and that just doesn’t jive with chaotic characters. Evil characters tend to follow rules that conflict with the laws of Proskur as well. Neutral characters are allowed, however, because, frankly, half of the guards in Proskur are reformed criminals anyway. A character could bluff their way through the test, however, saying what they think the guards want to hear. Thus, even evil and chaotic characters can join the Proskur guards if they are good liars. Keep in mind that, from of the persepctive of the player, this quiz will be as simple as “take test or not” and then getting your test graded. I see no reason to drag it out by asking numerous questions.

Once a member of the guards, you must abide by certain rules and do your duty. You are property of the city, and as such, must follow certain standards. One of the more important rules is that when you go on quests that may potentially have loot at the end, you cannot take any of that loot for yourself. You do take a cut of the loot for the city but you cannot keep any of it for yourself. You are the property of the city and are well taken care of by the city. However, taking money from other sources could create a conflict of interest. Failing to follow this rule means you could get thrown out of the Proskur guard and face jail time. If all the guard PCs decide to conspire to break this or other rules, there are always higher level NPCs that will crack down on them.

With that in mind, the only benefits of being a guard come from your wages and work benefits. A guards wage is decent, although not substantial. It’s enough for a couple nights at the inn and no more. That is alright because the best part of being a guard is the work benefits. You get free room and board. Also, all your equipment is provided for you for free. This equipment is also fairly good and, as you go up in the ranks, the equipment you have access to improves as well. Even the lowest grunt gets equipment of the calibar of chain shirts or half plate and longswords. The higher ranks can even have access to enchanted equipment. You of course cannot sell this equipment as it is the property of the city.

As a guard, you have the duty to uphold the law and go on quests that fall under the jurisdiction of the city. Mind you, this doesn’t mean if you miss a crime or don’t go on a particular quest that you get thrown out of the Proskur guard. If you help criminals or obstruct justice, that’s a different story. There may also be some quests that all guards must take part in from time to time. These are normally rare, large quests where it would be silly for a guard not to join in on. If Proskur is getting invaded, for example, every PC guard probably needs to get involved.

Mercenaries are in stark contrast to the Proskur guard. Anyone can be a mercenary. There is a guild of mercenaries a character can join. However, membership is not compulsory and it’s perfectly acceptable for a mercenary to be free lance or start his own mercenary troupe.

Mercenaries, whether part of the guild or troupe or freelancing, are in business for themselves and must take on all the risks involved with business. They can demand whatever portion of the loot they feel they deserve and the sky is the limit for how much wealth they can amass. However, if times get tough they must also take on all the costs and risks of those leaner times. Ultimately, the mercenary system is simple. You are an expert in combat in business for yourself and you take on all the responsibilities of that business.

Those who join the formal mercenary’s guild must pay a small membership cost each week. In return, they have access to some equipment at a discounted rate. They also recieve some mediocre equipment when they first join to help them get started. By far the biggest benefit of being a member of the mercenary’s guild, however, is access to information. What that basically amounts to is access to quests that other characters may not have easy access to.

The way I see things playing out in Proskur is that most characters will probalby be mercenaries. It is simple, lucrative, and the combat aspect makes it fun for a wide group of players. I think many players will have characters in the guard as well, however, because it is also combat related, it’s easy to get started as a guard, and the power a guard gets is fun as well.

In comparison to most other occupations, especially the mercanaries, I think guards will be the easiest to work with at low levels. This is because of the great benefits you get early on. Not having to worry about expenses is a great boon. As the character progresses in levels, however, the guard’s life may become more difficult relative to other occupations when at the same level. To get access to the better equipment that meets the needs of higher level characters, the character must be able to advance in the ranks of the Proskur guard. Doing so is competitive and requires a character that is both politically savvy and able to do glorious things and gain a reputation for himself or herself. Even if a guard doesn’t progress in the ranks, he can still be very comfortable as a guard since his expenses are low and his equipment is still good enough for performing his duties. And one can always change occupations (although, moving from one occupation to another at later levels has its difficulties). Thus, I imagine being a guard gives the benefit of an early advantage at the cost of tougher times at later levels. This is in contrast to mercenaries that must build themselves nearly from scratch early on but, once they get some capital, are in good shape to continue to grow and be successful.

One thing I should talk about is the movement from being a guard to a mercenary. I’m sure many players will have their characters start off as a guard and move to become a mercenary after it becomes obvious they are not able to rise in the ranks. I don’t believe this is too much of an exploit simply because, when you leave the Proskur guard, you leave behind all those great benefits including your great equipment. When you start off as a mercenary, the hardest thing is building up your equipment to become an effective mercenary. A high level will have a slight advantage over a lower level but they still need some decent equipment to really get anywhere as a mercenary. Thus, the guard becoming a mercenary will still have to start from square one.

An exception to this is of course a monk. Then again, the monk will have an advantage no matter what he or she does simple because they don’t require equipment in a city where equipment is so expensive. Then again, they aren’t really gaining as many benefits from being in the guard either because they don’t use the free equipment offered to them.