Kaltamorn Organizations (Teon Supplement)
Kaltamorn Organizations
This section describes the various types of organizations that may facilitate various stories for groups of adventurers as well as specific members of each variety.
Organization Varieties
The Kaltamorn region is host to numerous adventuring organizations that generally fall into one of several categories. Naturally exceptions exist, but by and large most organizations that a group of adventurers could potentially join can be best described as either an academy, agency, association, clan, club, faction, or order. This section provides information on each of these kinds of groups.
Academies
Usually headed by a headmaster of some kind, academies generally exist for the express purpose of training and honing one's skill. Like factions or orders, academies usually have a very rigid structure to them and require a great deal of commitment. While they do not get as many jobs as the others, mostly because they tend to be very selective, they are usually ideal for people who wish to improve their skills at a very rapid rate. If self-improvement is one's goal, then an academy is a fast-track towards meeting it. The catch is that one usually has to pay some kind of tuition and generally the better the academy, the higher the tuition. Not only that but the personal freedoms of the student tend to be lesser than that of a of normal citizen. Namely that they tend to be required to a strict code of conduct, live in a certain locale, and generally obey a hierarchy. Such is the cost of rapid self-improvement when in academies.
Agencies
Agencies hire members and pay them on a regular basis. Generally the members also make a percentage of the commissions they are hired for, but not always. Usually, however, the jobs picked are beneath the capabilities of the members so that the resources used on them are less likely to be wasted. It's common for agencies to provide food, shelter, and other necessary services to their members. But the general rule of thumb is that the more the organization provides, the less freedom the members have. Agencies, however, tend to be the most conservative and safest organizations to join. At the same time, they also tend to be the largest and most difficult to make a name for oneself in.
Associations
Probably the rarest of the types of registered organizations but the most common amongst adventuring parties, associations are usually very casual and are run democratically by their members and are perhaps the most volatile variety. They tend to be very clique-y, small, and very single-minded compared to other varieties. Their requirements and services tend to vary dramatically between one another and it's common for them to come and go if internal disputes cause a division in the group. That said, one has the absolute most freedom in an association with all the benefits and drawbacks that come with it.
Clans
Easily the hardest kind of organization to join, clans boast the highest amount of comradery and loyalty to itself. Joining a clan is usually attained by being born into one via a living member. Making entrance by outsiders usually extremely difficult and/or requiring a very rigorous entrance program. But clans also feature the absolute highest quality of benefits right away for new members. Usually not requiring any regular payments, nor doling any out, clans tend to pool and share their resources amongst each other. Indeed clans are more like a giant family than a business.
Clubs
Clubs require regular payments from their members and tend to only provide basic services such as appraising and selling the loot given to them for a party, giving them discounts on equipment, and so on and so forth. The downside is that their members generally have to find their own jobs. Clubs offer more freedom, but at the same time it can be very hard starting off as an adventurer while in one. Clubs can sometimes be very elitist and selective about their members but not always. Usually clubs are smaller and more humble than agencies. Either way though, clubs tend to lie on the edges of the distribution curve of organizations, either being very fancy, or very poor.
Faction
Factions are usually highly-regimented and disciplined organizations that are run like a small military. They tend to be the absolute most efficient, if not the least subtle, variety. Faction life is very spartan and the benefits tend to be lack-luster. But factions will take just about anyone who walks in their doors with almost no questions asked. Just don't expect them to do you any favors if you do anything terribly illegal. As far as contracts go, factions tend to deploy numerous members on a mission, hoping to make up for lack of quality with quantity. Meaning they can take on a wider variety of jobs than most other organization types. This also means, however, that one is not likely to become famous while part of a faction.
Orders
The most common variety amongst paladins and knights, orders are very strict and rigid organizations held together by common beliefs and codes of conduct. Joining one usually requires a solemn vow of some variety and there is usually a rigid hierarchy along with a set of rules. Most orders tend to be religious, but not all are. The commonality, though, is a group of people banded together for a common cause, purpose, and/or ideal. Joining one is almost always a long-term commitment. The benefit of orders is that they tend to get the absolute most jobs from just about everyone since they are usually the most reliable and trustworthy. If one wishes to almost always be busy with various quests/ adventures, then joining an order may be ideal for them.
Adventurer Ranks
Ever since the Professional Adventuring Act of 11302Y, there is a standardized system of ranking the power, skill, and/or abilities of adventurers across all adventuring organizations. These ranks entitle adventurers to certain amounts of base pay when being offered jobs. Though the adventurers are free to accept work for cheaper compensation if they desire. This system exists mostly to protect adventurers from being cheated out of rewards by official organizations. However, if an adventurer is hired to do something that violates the law, then they are legally disallowed to be compensated for it. This is to discourage assassins and contract thieves from thriving. For details about these ranks please check Table: Adventuring Ranks.
| Rank: | ECL: | Minimum Individual Pay: |
|---|---|---|
| Iron | 1 - 5 | 5 gp |
| Bronze | 6 - 10 | 50 gp |
| Silver | 11 - 15 | 500 gp |
| Gold | 16 - 20 | 5,000 gp |
| Platinum | 21 - 25 | 50,000 gp |
| Mithral | 26 - 30 | 500,000 gp |
| Adamant | > 30 | 500,000 + 5,000 per level above 30 |
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