The Selenica Co-operative

 

source

The Selenica Co-operative is a network of merchants who have agreed to work together to stay in business and protect themselves and their goods. As the name suggests, the group is centred on Selenica in eastern Darokin and as such is on a crossroads between various nations including Karameikos, the Five Shires, Ylaruam and Rockhome. The merchants are all travelling traders, moving goods and money around between cities and countries, and generally do not maintain static shops, though they often trade with those that do. 

The four main functions of the cooperative are

1. Mutual defence. Members of the co-operative will often band together into large and well-guarded caravans when travelling to the same destination, or at least travelling the same road for a distance. Given how dangerous some of the mountain passes and hills can be, this is a sensible precaution. Bandits and monsters are less likely to raid a large caravan than a sole trader. 
2. Trade and financial information. There is a general understanding in the co-operative that news about trade and economics is important for finding the best deals and avoiding difficulties. As such members of the cooperative will tell each other about the ebb and flow of commodities, the activities of rivals who might compete with the cooperative, and laws and taxes in the places the cooperative might do business.
3. Avoiding competing with each other. Merchants don't like cutting prices simply because somebody else is selling similar wares cheaper. Although there is some disagreement and arguing within the co-operative, it is considered a safe place to sort out potential rivalry and help merchants find alternative markets. 
4. Loans at reasonable rates of interest. Admitedly what counts as reasonable can be subjective, but as long as both lender and borrower are in agreement, this has kept various merchants solvent and in business when they might otherwise have been ruined by the ups and downs of life as a travelling merchant.

Darokin is a land famous for its merchants including the great merchant houses that employ dozens or even hundreds of workers, and a head of the house overseeing all of its business, with junior merchants often acting under instruction. The Selenica Co-operative is far less hierarchical, and all members are at least in principle equals (though richer members are more equal than others). Each merchant in the co-operative is considered an independent trader looking after their own business and making their own deals. Most members are from Darokin but in the fifty years since it started in Selenica, more merchants from other places have joined, including:

• Ylaruam. This includes Parsa and Ylaruam City. The co-operative avoids Abbashan as they have had bad experiences with the theocracy there. In Cinsa-Men-Noo there is Maerell Dhambor, who is not a member but has had friendly dealings with the co-operative. 
• Karameikos, including Specularum, Kelvin and Penhaligon. Specularum is also a trading port for members who wish to trade further across the sea. In Penhaligon there are two members - Beltorphix and Maddrasso.  
• Rockhome. Though there are great opportunities to trade between Darokin and Rockhome, currently the only safe route through the mountains is into Ylaruam’s Parsa and then north through the Ust-Urt valley and through Karrak Castle. Nonetheless, merchants of the co-operative consider this long way round to still be worthwhile and in Greenston there is Meribidus Silverbrow   
• Athenos in the south of Darokin is the nation’s main port, and as such many merchants will either sell to foreign merchants here or else hire ships to trade overseas. 
• Corunglain in the north of Darokin is both a large city of customers and also the jumping off point for merchant caravans braving the dangerous routes to Glantri and Ethengar. There are several members of the co-operative based here. The mutual defense clause of membership is frequently invoked and the co-operative makes sure that caravans heading north into the Broken Lands are as well protected as they can afford to be. 
• Ierendi City. Note that the members are quite cautious about trading here - the city itself may be safe but the surrounding seas are patrolled by pirates from Vlaad. No sane member of the co-operative will trade actually in one of Ierendi’s pirate ports. 
• Thyatis City and Kerendas. The Empire of Thyatis is a great opportunity for trade, and the co-operative has several merchants based there. Goods will often be loaded onto a ship at Specularum and make the short trip past Minrothad. 
• No direct trade with Minrothad City occurs, primarily because of the Minrothad Guilds’ policies and insistence on maintaining a near-monopoly in their homeland. But sometimes Minrothad merchants will trade with members of the co-operative either in Kerendas or Specularum. 

The Selenica Co-operative is quite open-minded about its membership. A certain level of trustworthiness is required, so no theft from or assaulting other members is tolerated. Fraud and getting into trouble with law enforcement is likewise frowned on, and slandering other merchants (especially those within the co-operative) is discouraged. These basic rules mean that most of the cooperative are Lawful or Neutral in alignment - Chaotic types tend not to fit into the co-operative’s ethos. However, a range of races and nationalities are represented, and female merchants are welcome as well. This is primarily a matter of professionalism - the ability to do business and make money is the most respected attribute. 

Although not hierarchical, the co-operative does have leadership of sorts in the form of the Board of Directors, who are the 9 most senior or wealthy merchants in the co-operative who are asked to set the rules, welcome or expel members and deal with disputes between members. Although there is a certain amount of political manoeuvring both by those on the board and those seeking to ascend to the board, it does generally work fairly well, partly because of the ever present competition of the big merchant houses.  Those on the board who are particularly selfish, incompetent or greedy will find themselves outvoted on decisions and possibly voted off the board if the other eight directors would rather have someone different. Nonetheless, the board has run into trouble when one or more directors have been magically influenced (usually involving Charm or Suggestion spells) and there was one period when a rival major merchant houses was using a mage to scry on the board of directors meetings. 

Another look at Minrothad

I started this post around the time a thread on the Piazza Mystara forum about Minrothad and its gazetteer began and that thread has certainly influenced this.  I may have been overly harsh with my overview of the Minrothad Guilds. Yes there aren’t the sorts of adventures I am used to. But that does not mean the nation should be dismissed as an oversized trading post.

Should Minrothad have adventures?

This is one idea that was brought up in the Piazza by Cab that caught my attention.  

cab wrote: ?Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:54 am

Interesting that responses to this GAZ are so varied. I loved it (I mean, everything's better with pirates), because of what it adds to a campaign almost anywhere across the wider setting. I didn't view it as a setting to base my campaign in, but I wasn't looking for that.

Minrothad isn't a setting to adventure in, at least not much. But its a tremendous toolkit to adventure from, the extended maritime and trade rules are a handy toolkit.

This is a really good take. I’ve had the assumption that each nation visited in the gazetteers was expected to host its own adventures and campaign, with the themes of each campaign depending (at least partially) on the themes and character of the nation. And I think the Gazetteers make that assumption as well. But if we drop the assumption that there ought to be adventures in each nation, then it becomes a question of “What role does this nation play in a Known World campaign?” 

Minrothad then becomes a stable, lawful (maybe too lawful in its social structures?) trading nation that has neither the imperial ambitions of Thyatis nor the dangerous northern border of Darokin. As such it has fewer distractions (though there are pirates) from generating money and prosperity. In fact it could be seen as the largest trading fleet in the Sea of Dread and the second largest navy (after Thyatis). Minrothad Merchant Princes could be seen not so much as a PC class so much as powerful and wealthy patrons, like nobility but without so many airs and graces.

This is something to bear in mind - Minrothad city and its islands are not just somewhere to shoehorn adventures into but may play a quite different role in the wider campaign. 

Nonetheless in this post I am also considering how to make Minrothad, especially its capital city, could host adventures, even dungeons.

My Changes to Minrothad City

Let’s make it more like Ptolus or Waterdeep or even like Ravnica. It’s still more civilized and organised than the pirate ports of Ierendi such as Vlaad. There are city watch patrols at least in the nice parts of town. The upper parts are well maintained. But there is an underbelly, quite literally. 

I'm going to bump up the population of Minrothad city. Page 45 says population across all islands is 280,000, with 25,000 in Minrothad City? Make the city closer to 100,000 people and 300,000 across all the islands. Can food supply cope or do they need new sources of food? I'm going to say that Minrothad as a nation is mostly self-sufficient in food, with both Guild Corser and Guild Quickhand overseeing farming and food production on all the islands, and Guild Eshan bringing in fish. And since Minrothad is famed for its trading prowess and is well-situated to import food from Thyatis, Karameikos, the Five Shires, Ierendi and even Darokin, bringing in food from elsewhere is always an option. 

I imagine Minrothad City now having the same layout as the map in the gazetteers, but with a larger scale and therefore larger surface area. Perhaps use the existing map but double all measurements?. The majority of the city is still raised considerably above the water level, contained by a large outer wall. At the water level the city is still surrounded on all sides by the river, with the Seagate leading to an underground harbour. However, the harbour does not extend all the way under the city, but instead takes up a smaller area inside the seagate. The rocky base that Minrothad City sits on is riddled with tunnels, passages and vertical winching shafts that connect the underground docks with the city above, and of course constitute part of the Underbelly (see below). 

Minrothad is big, organised and powerful enough to act as a foil against Thyatis and its imperial ambitions, particularly with its privateer navy. Although clearly not enough to take Thyatis on in an all-out one-on-one war, Minrothad would certainly prove a major thorn in the empire's side should war break out. However, as Thyatis is a major trading partner, none of the guilds nor merchant princes want this to happen. Foreign agents, particularly from Thyatis, might seek to influence or destabilise Minrothad. Darokin might even be the bad guy here if they seek to hinder a major trading rival.

The hefty restrictions on foreigners visiting Minrothad needs to be relaxed. Quite bluntly as the gazetteer stands a typical adventuring party sailing from Specularum or  Shireton would find Minrothad City more trouble than it is worth if work is so tightly controlled by the guilds. And I really don't think there is enough going on in the Minrothad Islands to justify a campaign for Minrothad-native PCs. Perhaps this is something the current Guildmaster has changed in his recent reforms. 

Another look at the guilds.

Established Family Guilds include

• Guild Corser (humans, dealing with various things including magic items)
• Guild Hammer (dwarves, dealing with metal, mining & smithing)
• Guild Verdier (Forest elves, dealing with wood)
• Guild Quickhand (halflings, dealing with leather)
• Guild Elshan (water elves, dealing with ships)

These family guilds will try to protect their monopolies on their various trades, but there are inevitably situations where either independent workers, craftsmen and traders or even members of other guilds will do their own work outside the guild that claims that field. Point in case: food and farming. Although Guild Corser has tried to maintain guild dominance over farming, it cannot stop others from farming. Food is just too important to depend on a single guild for it. However, some within the guilds take their monopolies very seriously and will take drastic action against anybody they see as infringing on their turf. This can seem an overreaction, even nonsensical, to outsiders who do not appreciate how protective guild members can get. 

Established Political guilds include 

• Tutorial Guild (Wizards) This contains individual members and also orders and circles for mages with similar goals and attitudes. See Orders of mages of Karameikos and apply the same principle to Minrothad, especially those who are not so commercially minded that they would rather join a merchant trader company.   
• Sages Branch
• Mercenary Guild (Fighters). Split into companies, as in commercial companies not necessarily military companies. They are all authorised to act as Minrothad’s militia but some just act as mercenaries.
• Thieves Guild (Thieves!)
• The Privateers
• The Assassins Branch, never officially acknowledged
• Merchant Sailor Guild (including most Merchant-Princes)

Guilds that I have created

• Spiritual Guild (clerics)
• The Gravediggers branch
• The Healers branch
• Guild of Governance (administrators & lawyers)

None of the guilds are entirely evil but some can have their dark side with certain members using their skills and positions for evil or Chaos. These guilds are sanctioned to do certain jobs in Minrothad that need to be done (thieves act as spies, privateers act as navy, gravediggers dig graves and conduct funerals) but within each there are plenty of individuals and groups who go beyond their official remit and into criminal activity. Being in these guilds means the government has given them permission to do some things for the good of Minrothad, but not carte blanche. It is unlikely that the guild will get into so much trouble that the Guildmaster of Minrothad disbands the entire guild, but that is a threat when a guild seems to get out of hand. 

One idea is that I don’t need a complete list of guilds and branches. I intend to keep and use established ones but smaller ones can always be invented. In fact one step further, the exact structure of each of the guilds is not that important in most cases. Whether net-makers are part of Guild Elsan or part of their own small guild is not important to most adventurers, unless net-makers become an integral part of an adventure or mystery.  

Also it is not necessary to come up with adventure hooks for every guild. Cabinet makers, large shell workers and barding-makers (all found under various family guilds in the gazetteer) are unlikely to be involved in activities that threaten other citizens or involve lootable treasure in way that attract adventurers. 

There are also NPC good guys. The White Pennants are part of the mercenary guild and act as the police in Minrothad city. Many of the members of the Spiritual Guild (the Minrothad Church of Law) and  Governance Guild are interested in keeping the peace and serving justice. Much of Minrothad City and the surrounding islands are lawful and peaceful because of decent folk like these. In fact most of Minrothad is in stark contrast to the unbridled lawlessness of the pirate ports of Ierendi just over the sea to the west. 

I imagine most adventures will occur within the city itself. It simply requires suitable bad guys. These include battling against criminals who will often be members of guilds. They will be vying for political control, money, resources, vengeance and the like. There might be merchant houses and companies that have become centres of chaos worship. In fact chaos cults infiltrating the city at various levels (hiding down in the dungeon-like cellars, pulling strings as guild-masters) could be a major threat to the city. Clashes between guilds over control of trades, territory and sources of income could pull the PCs in. 

The Cobra Cabal from my previous Minrothad post is still a thing, not a guild in itself but an organisation or network that infiltrates and corrupts established guilds. Even within the dark guilds the Cobra Cabal has its recruits and agents. 

The Underbelly of Minrothad City

There are now dungeons beneath Minrothad city. Like beneath Ptolus or maybe Necromunda or the process of Ditlana in Empire of the Petal Throne. Not so much specifically excavated as dungeons so much as old levels of the city that have been built over enough times to become buried by newer layers. The Underbelly is the network of sewers, cellars, tunnels, ancient ruins and the like that have gradually expanded over Minrothad's history. And of couse it connects to the underground docks that ships load and offload cargo in. There are a few well-patrolled stairwells that lead directly between the city surface and the docks, but there are also passages leading off these safe routes into far less maintained and far more risky areas.

According to the gazetteer the city of Minrothad was founded about 500 years ago. Actually the gazetteer suggests that it is on the site of "New Alphatia". I'm going with the idea of a blend or patchwork of different cultures, including elven, Nithian, Alphatian and Thyatian, all contributing to the Underbelly's architecture. Like Rome, Athens or Istanbul, the city has been inhabited for a long time and has accumulated a lot of odd architecture. 

Although I suppose all sorts of monsters could be found in the Underbelly, I am inclined to imagine it being more human-oriented, with gangs of thieves, bandits, cultists, slavers, evil mages and the like more common than gnolls, hill giants or harpies. It's not exactly impossible for such fantastic monsters to appear, but it does raise questions in my mind "How did it get here underneath a major city on an island?". Creatures that are sometimes found underneath other cities, such as giant rats, carrion crawlers, otyughs and similar scavengers are known to lurk in the Underbelly. Similarly undead and rogue constructs abandoned by their makers are occasionally encountered. 

Adventure Hooks in Minrothad

A merchant prince has been feeding information about his rivals to pirates. The PCs are hired to escort one of the rivals ships from Specularum when it is attacked by tipped-off pirates. This could lead back to the merchant prince. The pirate ship actually comes from Vlaad in Ierendi, where the pirates will fence their stolen goods and the merchant prince will sometimes visit to pick up such wares at a reasonable price.  

Unscrupulous members of the gravediggers have been passing corpses to a necromancer who has been animating them in his laboratory in the Underbelly. However, some of these have wandered out and attacked sailors and dock workers in the underground harbour. Both merchant princes and the dock-workers branch want this investigated before people die. 

A mercenary company is guarding a Chaos cult based down in the Underbelly that has been kidnapping and sacrificing innocent victims from Minrothad City.The cult is led by a senior member of the Guild of Governance. This has come to the attention of some merchant princes but they are not equipped to deal with these situations, and given the cult leader, reporting it to the authorities is unlikely to resolve the problem. As well as the mercenaries the cult has summoned several demons. 

A scion of a powerful merchant prince has run away from an arranged marriage into the Underbelly. His father wants him to return to complete the marriage. His mother is okay if he just makes it out of the underbelly alive, and maybe escape to Thyatis or Specularum. 

A merchant prince has sponsored an art exhibition in one of the smart areas of the city. As well as attracting a lot of attention from wealthy art collectors, it has been targeted by several gangs of thieves. However, the patron expects this and wants to set a trap to capture the thieves who stole a valuable heirloom and either punish them or retrieve the heirloom. 

The PCs are hired by the Cabinet-Maker branch of Guild Verdier to retrieve stolen furniture from a warehouse of a merchant prince. In fact the goods are not stolen but have been crafted in Minrothad but outside of the guild. Therefore as far as Guild Verdier is concerned the furniture is illegal. The merchant prince strongly disagrees and so do his mercenary guards. [this one is to see if I could create an adventure involving Cabinet-makers!]

Aquatic Denizens of the Sea of Dread

image by Pindurski, source

The timing of this post accidentally coincides with the release of Threshold Magazine #31 which actually covers very similar subject matter. Which of these you as the reader prefer and maybe use in your games is up to you - perhaps elements of both could be combined in your campaign. 

With the exception of Safari Island the islands of Ierendi and Minrothad do not have the same extensive wilderness as the main continent of Brun which holds the bulk of the Known World. Traders’ Island, Alfeisle, Ierendi Island and Utter Island are all large enough to have areas a league or more away from towns and cities. But these are not inhabited by the sort of monsters one would encounter in the rugged forested foothills of Karameikos, the deserts of Ylaruam or the mountains of Rockhome.

A lot of the focus in official sources is the threat and problems of land-dwelling race, particularly pirates that threaten trading ships in these seas and occasionally raid villages. Pirates are almost the standard bad guys for Ierendi and Minrothad, taking the place of bandits and brigands and partially replacing the usual evil humanoids (orcs, goblins, ogres). They certainly have bases in hidden coves and small islets and can also be found in the more chaotic cities of Ierendi. However, there are other monsters that are far less human that threaten the inhabitants of these islands.

[A note on sources of monsters: This post will refer to monsters that are not in the two B/X rule books. In previous posts I have borrowed from both AD&D and also AC9 Creature Catalogue. I will do so again here - I hope this does not render this post useless for those without these sources.]

Humanoid Races of the Sea

Below the surface of the waves there are various competing species, some of them benevolent, some vicious and some are indifferent.

• Aquatic Elves (from Creature Catalogue) - These are not to be confused with the surface-dwelling sea elves of Minrothad, the aquatic elves live underwater. They are friendly towards other elves and mostly friendly to other civilised races, though they dislike and avoid pirates.
• Merfolk (from Expert rules) are among the most common of the ocean’s intelligent inhabitants and can be found throughout the waters. Some are nomadic while others have established underwater towns. Their attitude towards other races can vary but is rarely outright hostile, though they can get very defensive towards those they see as intruders.
• Shark-kin (from Creature Catalogue) are rarer and more reclusive than merfolk. Despite their name, they tend to leave humans alone unless they are provoked. However, when a tribal leader dies the shark-kin come ashore in a ritual to chose and appoint a new leader. When this happens they can be more erratic and unpredictable towards land-dwellers. Occasionally a pack of shark-kin will fall under the influence of evil devilfish, in which case they become hostile towards other races. 
  
  
  
• Sahuagin (from 1st Edition AD&D) are believed to be a chaotic offshoot of the shark-kin.They are far more aggressive and predatory, attacking any and all who they encounter. They are the sworn enemies of aquatic elves and mermen and unlike other undersea races they are capable and willing to attack human settlements on the shore (Sahuagin can cope with breathing air for up to 4 hours at a time). Like shark-kin they will tame and use sharks as both mounts and pets. They occasionally work with weresharks who, in human form, act as agents and spies for sahuagin. 
• Snappers (from Creature Catalogue) are bad-tempered and dangerous turtle-folk who are rarely encountered in Ierendian and Minrothad waters. They are more common further south around the Thanegoth Archipelago as they are amphibious and come ashore to breed and lay eggs, and the shores in the northern Sea of Dread are a bit too busy for their liking.
• Tritons (from Creature Catalogue) are generally well intentioned and tolerant towards humans. They tend to be more distant and aloof than aquatic elves. Though similar in appearance to mermen, they are tougher and more dangerous in combat and they all seem to have clerical spell casting abilities. As such merfolk will treat tritons with respect and occasionally ask them for clerical assistance. 
• Kna (from Creature Catalogue) are considerably larger than most aquatic humanoids and are perhaps the undersea equivalent of ogres and hill giants, although they are not related. Their attitudes towards other races is variable - sometimes trading, other times wrecking human and elves ships and looting the cargo. They sometimes act as mercenaries, hired muscle for other races. It is known that several tribes of kna have associated with sea dragons (see below), working with them to attack ships or demand payment, while others have fallen under the malevolent influence of either the devilfish or the kopru. Unlike some aquatic races, kna cannot cope with being out of water, so they leave land settlements alone.  

Non-Humanoid Monsters

• Kopru (from Creature Catalogue and X1: Isle of Dread) are inscrutable, alien and incredibly ancient as a race. They have a mind-influencing ability similar to a Charm spell that they will use both on intruders and to maintain an entourage of enchanted slaves (usually of the aquatic races mentioned here, particularly shark-kin and snappers). Sometimes a Kopru will simply use its mind-influencing on the leaders of a tribe and the rest of the tribe will follow the charmed leaders.
• Sea Dragons (from original Expert Rules and Creature Catalogue) are powerful and influential inhabitants of the sea, similar to their land-dwelling draconic cousins. They are not innately hostile towards humans and most other races but are greedy and selfish, often demanding tribute from ships for safe passage and reacting angrily towards those who ignore the sea dragon’s demands.
• Dragon Turtles (original Expert rules & Companion rules) are much rarer than sea dragons, and are considerably more powerful. Occasionally mistaken as uncharted islets because of their size and rock-like shells, dragon turtles can destroy ships and perhaps even threaten a coastal town if angry enough.
• Sea Serpents (from original Expert Rules & Creature Catalogue) are not very clever but are large enough to threaten boats and small ships. Although most other creatures leave them alone treating them as just large predators, sea dragons and sea giants occasionally put them to use as guards and oversized pets. 
• Weresharks (from  Rules Cyclopedia) are a type of lycanthrope, humans cursed to change into large sharks and hunt warm-blooded prey. They are found in many parts of human society, but pirates and fishermen seem to have the highest incidence of this type of lycanthropy. Interestingly enough sahuagin respect, almost revere, weresharks, but shark-kin despise them, viewing weresharks as sorcerous abominations. At least one wereshark is believed to live on Safari Island.
• Devilfish (from Rules Cyclopedia and Masters Rules) are evil vicious creatures similar in appearance to manta rays, but capable of clerical spell casting. Unlike some races they do not have settlements as they do not have hands and therefore cannot build, so they are nomadic, roaming across the Sea of Dread in schools of up to 50 members. They occasionally work with kna, with the devilfish masterminding attacks and the kna providing the brute force. 
• Sea Giants (from Masters Rules) are generally neutral and leave humans and surface races alone. They tend to live in deeper oceans, further south in the Sea of Dread than Ierendi and Minrothad. But they can get territorial, particularly when other creatures poke around the giants’ huge underwater homes. Because of the depths they dwell at, they occasionally encounter deposits of Neptunium, which they will mine and either use for themselves or sell to other aquatic races.
• Aquatic Hydrae (Expert Rulebook) are similar to their land-dwelling cousins though they have turtle-like flippers instead of clawed feet. They are not particularly intelligent and are often just marauding monsters, but powerful and dangerous monsters nonetheless.
• Sea Hags (from Masters Rules) are hideous and chaotic creatures that hate all other living things. They have a terrifying appearance that can scare away even brave adventurers, and a life-draining touch. It is rumoured that those killed by a sea hag's touch are not devoured but transformed into lacedons (see below). [Note: although there is another version of the Sea Hag found in the AD&D Monster Manual with a killing gaze, I am using the Masters Rules and Rules Cyclopedia version]
• Lacedons (from 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual) are a type of ghoul that are found underwater. They have developed webbed feet and hands as well as slimy, green-tinged complexion. As with other ghouls they are undead, not humanoid, and do not need to breath at all, so are effectively amphibious. They are sometimes found in the service of sea hags
• Sea Lions (from 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual) are quite unlike their real-life namesakes and are a monstrous combination of lion and large fish, attacking with teeth and claws. 
  
  
   

My Ideas about the Minrothad Guilds

The Official Version of the Minrothad Guilds

South of Karameikos, east of Ierendi and west of Thyatis there is a cluster of islands where merchant-princes, privateers and craftsmen ply their trades - the Minrothad Guilds. This is based on Gaz9 in the Known World gazetteer series. 

Art by Clyde Caldwell. source

My feelings about the official version of Minrothad? Unimpresssed. It does not grate against my perception of verisimilitude the same way as Ierendi does - I consider it far more plausible. But I am not that interested in the adventures the setting is geared towards. The authors decided this was a place of commercial and political intrigue but I prefer D&D to be about action, adventure and high fantasy. Maybe I am just not the target audience?

There is a lack of substantial terrestrial wilderness. The seas around the islands are wild in their own ways but sailing in a ship has a different sort of dynamic to a party hiking or riding through hills and forest. And the B/X rules simply don't have the range of maritime monsters to inspire many seafaring adventures, unless one finds monsters and animals from either supplements such as AC10 Creature Collection or from other editions such as 1st Ed AD&D. Having said that there are various aquatic races and monsters in the Sea of Dread that can threaten adventurers and the ships they sail on. 

There is also a lack of ruins and dungeons. Again I understand the writers were not interested in that sort of adventure. But to ignore that aspect of D&D completely for a whole nation such as Minrothad is a mistake in my opinion. Perhaps I am being harsh here - I remember my discussion about dungeons in Karameikos. The absence of named dungeons in the gazetteer does not prevent DMs from placing their own dungeons and ruins. But its not as if the gazetteer has much background to suggest suitable dungeons. 

There is a lack of bad guys and monsters, at least on land. I know that this is intentional and that situations in the Minrothad Guilds are intended to be either morally vague or complex. I don't mind that in some situations, but to have a whole gazetteer where the party is almost discouraged from fighting seems weird and not the sort of D&D I would choose to play. I should add that this is something of an exaggeration - there are some bad guys, most notably pirates, but there is nothing in the gazetteers that suggests a threat to towns, cities or institutions of Minrothad that would require the intervention of brave adventurers to save the day.  

Finally the guilds themselves don't cover trades and professions I would have expected while covering some rather mundane crafts that I would not have bothered with. Although there is a chapter on religious beliefs in Minrothad there is no explanation as to whether clerics are involved in the guild structure that the rest of the nation is composed of. Meanwhile we know who the master of small shell workers is. But there is no mention of entertainers such as jesters or musicians. Somehow I find the guilds that are meant to make this nation unique to be actually a bit boring. Minrothad has no dragons, no ogres, no hordes of savage orcs, but there is a chance the PCs might encounter some unruly cabinet-makers.... 

Part of me is tempted to just ignore this nation. The authors of the gazetteer and I have different ideas about what is interesting and exciting. Maybe this is acceptable? After all, not every nation needs to be a hotbed of adventure and conflict, and having the Minrothad Guilds as the most stable and peaceful nation in the Known World of southeast Brun might not be so bad.  But another part of me has other ideas. 

My ideas about the Guilds of Minrothad 

While reading Gaz9 I ended up thinking about some other D&D settings with very different takes on guilds - Planescape's city of Sigil with its 15 factions (at least before the Faction War) and Ravnica, City of Guilds, ported over from Magic: the Gathering and given D&D 5E stats in "Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica" with its 10 guilds. I'm not going to directly copy either of these over to Minrothad but to me they both show how interesting, dramatic and radically different the groups that make up a fantasy society (either a collection of islands or a city-state) can be. 

The guild structures laid out in the gazetteer were once true but have now been replaced. In 990 AC the Guild Master Oran Meditor reorganised the guilds. This caused a lot of turmoil and anger, but the reforms have nonetheless stuck.  Firstly guilds can have branches, sub-guilds that specialise. This allows for particular professions to maintain their own unique traits within a larger general guild

Several new guilds have sprung up, most notably the Guild of the Spiritual, the newest political guild. Its branches include a branch for each of the major faiths in Minrothad (as detailed in Gaz9 Players' booklet). However, the Guild of the Spiritual also includes the Undertakers and Gravediggers Branch and the Orphan-keeper and Alms-giver Branch. The Guild of the Spiritual is the obvious guild for clerics, but not everyone in this guild is necessarily a cleric. Visiting clerics of other faiths can join the guild of the Spiritual but are not required to join a specific branch. 

The Guild of Governance is a new political guild based in Minrothad City that now includes the Lawyers and Judges branch, the Record-keepers Branch and interestingly the Public Works Branch that keeps roads, bridges, docks and other public infrastructure in working order. This guild is quite small but since the decisions of the judges in the guild are widely (though not universally) accepted, it has rapidly become very influential. It has also absorbed those who worked in the Treasury and the Master Treasurer, currently Eliz Blanceer, is the head of the Guild of Governance. The Senechal of Minrothad City is now considered the deputy guildmaster and the person responsible for keeping an eye on the Guild of Governance, making sure it stays neutral and honest. The Jailers and Executioners Branch of this guild is particularly feared. 

The Privateers Guild was mentioned in the gazetteer but not incorporated into the guild structure. It has now been turned into the Privateers Branch, now part of the Mercenaries Guild. Officially it is considered Minrothad's navy, ready to defend the island from seaborne threats. Unofficially members of the Privateers Branch are little better than state-sanctioned pirates. 

The Merchant-Sailors Guild is still the most powerful and influential guild but it has no branches - instead it has companies, similar to modern commercial companies or perhaps the great merchant houses of Darokin. Nearly all members of the Merchant Prince class are part of this guild and although a few are solo traders, many have banded together into companies to pool their resources and talents. 

There is some leeway as to which character classes can join which political guild. Previously all fighters were expected to join the Mercenaries guild, all magic users joined the Tutorial Guild and thieves joined the Thieves Guild. Now the guilds will accept members of different classes at their discretion. This means that there are a few battle mages, battlefield chaplains and sneaky scouts among  the Mercenaries Guild, the Tutorial Guild has a few bodyguards and clerical scholars, the Thieves Guild has a few heavy enforcers and criminally-inclined mages, and the Spiritual Guild has a few temple guards and devout mages. But the majority of each guild are of its traditional character class. 

The Family Guilds are furious with the Guildmaster who decreed that they should be open to members of any race as long as they are competent at their profession and are loyal to the guild. Previously each guild had been very race-specific (Guild Corser for humans, Guild Elsan for Water Elves, Guild Hammer for Dwarves, Guild Quickhand for Halflings and Guild Verdier for Wood Elves). Now although most of each guild's members are of the traditional race, more and more of other races are being accepted, albeit grudgingly. There have been accusations of harassing and ostracising those who do not fit the guild's traditional membership. 

Guild Corser has established the Farmers Branch, a fairly broad-ranging group who all focus on producing the basics for food to feed the Minrothad Guilds and maybe beyond. The Butchers Branch, the Chefs' Branch and the Bakers Branch all cook and prepare the food and sell it to the public. But the guild master is still annoyed at losing the Master Magic Dealer who was transfered to the Tutorial Guild.

Guild Quickhand has founded the Entertainers Branch, where acrobats, actors, jesters and musicians and even storytellers all find their place in the guild structure. 

The big threat to the Minothrad Guilds is not invasion but infiltration. The Cobra Cabal is a shadowy conspiracy to subvert and take over the existing guilds. Unlike the Cult of Chaos, the Cobra Cabal is primarily driven by greed rather than ideology - a criminal organisation that seeks to acquire as much money and influence as it can without being confronted by the authorities. The Cobra Cabal seeks to establish its agents in every guild and hopefully every branch. Agents and members of the Cabal have already established themselves in both the Merchant-Sailors Guild and the Privateers Guild where they can command several ships. Crew who are not loyal to the Cabal have been replaced by various means including fatal "accidents" at sea. Similarly there is a company within the Mercenaries Guild, the 15th Company, that has become effectively the Cabal's own soldiers. The Thieves Guild is aware of a number of their members who have defected to the Cabal and the master is worried that there are some who have yet to declare their true allegience openly. 

I shall cover non-guild matters in a later post.