Material from The Price: Red Company

Originally published June 6, 2014

In a previous installment I mentioned how I dislike Courts in Changeling: the Lost and had replaced them with Guilds. In the course of the Price, one of my players achieved the founding of his own Guild: the Red Company. Here are their background and powers:

The Red Company

A guild of merchants and a company of explorers, with one foot in the Goblin Markets and the other in the wilds of the Hedge.

Organization

As a new guild the Red Company lacks a personal holdfast. Instead members maintain a loose knit network across the country. Where they are thickest they keep two positions for each Market: trading post operator and market guard.

The trading post operator maintains the guild’s connection to the local market, negotiating contracts and maintaining a stall for use by itinerant guild members. The junior or more martial member of the local market takes the position of market guard, either aiding in the protection of the local market or the guild stall.

All other members have the position of rider. They are expected to travel between markets, recruiting new members, keeping the trods safe, exploring new locations for the bounty of the Hedge or new markets.

New Merit: Mantle (Red) (1 to 5 dots)

This merit makes one a full member of the Red Company. This merit adds to dice pools for social interactions with members of the Company. Each dot adds +1 die bonus to relevant rolls with members of the Company. Mantle (Red) allows one to treat the contracts of the Dawn and Dusk as Favored contracts (new dot costs 2 Experiences) as well as allow the use of the favored dice pools.

Membership also gives several bonuses. At one dot of Mantle they gain a dot of Destiny. This grants 2 dice that can be used as bonus dice once per session. At 3 dots they gain +1 bonus to Persuasion and Survival rolls. The 5th dot ability remains unknown.

Membership also comes with costs. The founder of the Red Company sacrificed something that was not his to give up. All members gain a doom as part of the Destiny they gain. This is a part of their destiny that could lead to their death. They suffer -1 penalty to roll when dealing with their doom.

Dots in Mantle are also reflected in the changeling’s mein, emphasizing how the character is torn between two worlds. The peculiar scarlet red of twilight stains their skin and eyes. Those around them get the sensation of needing to move on but wanting to stay. Members also often seem mercurial as their better and worse halves battle for dominance.

New Merit: Guild Goodwill (Red) (1 to 5 dots)

This merit makes one an ally of the Red Company. This merit adds to dice pools for social interactions with members of the Company. Every two dots (round-up) adds +1 die bonus to relevant rolls with members of the Company. Guild Goodwill (Red) allows one to use of the contracts of the Dawn and Dusk.

Leadership

The current head of the Guild is Rocco McQueen, Levinquick Elemental and highly skilled Hacktivist.

Guild Contracts

Dawn (from Contracts of Potential in Swords at Dawn):

• Light the Path 1: Wits + Empathy + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 1 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 2
• Read the Web 2: Intelligence + Politics + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 2 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 3
• Martyr's Will 3: Resolve + Composure + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 3 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 4
• Shift the Foundation 4: Manipulation + Expression + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 4 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 5
• Tenacity of Hope 5: Resolve + Stamina + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 5

Dusk (from Contracts of Entropy in Dancers in the Dusk):

• Babel's Curse 1: Intelligence + Expression + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 1 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 2
• Sense the Inevitable 2: Wits + Occult + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 2 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 3
• Gift of the Skald 3: Presence + Persuasion + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 3 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 4
• Hero's Stand 4: Resolve + Brawl or Weaponry + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 4 or Guild Goodwill (Red) 5
• The Center Cannot Hold 5: Intelligence + Occult + Mantle (Red), must have Mantle (Red) 5