The Guild Merchant

In the Republic of Darokin, money and power go hand in hand like no other place in the Known World. The Merchant’s Guild knows this, and it is no surprise that this guild is the most influential in the Republic. In fact, the highest public office in the land, the Chancellor, has always been held by a member of the Merchant’s Guild.

Despite allowing foreign membership, the Merchant’s Guild is comprised mostly of native Darokinian merchants. While most of these merchants are content to simply buy low and sell high, there are others who elevate the mercantile trade to a true art. Traveling the Known World in search of truly exotic goods and adventure alike, these merchants are the embodiment of the Darokinian national character.

This data has been updated from GAZ11: The Republic of Darokin, and more information can be found in that product.

Hit Die: d6

Requirements

To become a guild merchant, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.

Skills:
Profession (merchant) 8 ranks, Appraise or Craft 5 ranks.
Special:
Must be a native citizen of the Republic of Darokin. The character must also be a member in good standing of the Merchant’s Guild of Darokin (see GAZ 11: The Republic of Darokin).

Class Skills

The class skills for the guild merchant (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Survival (Wis), Knowledge (Int), Profession (merchant) (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, and Spellcraft (Int). See Chapter 4: Skills of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Skill Points at Each Level: 6 + Int modifier.

Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The guild merchant gains no proficiency in any weapon or armor.

Bonus Language: At 1st level and each odd-numbered level guild merchant level thereafter, the character gains one bonus language of choice.

Merchant Lore: A guild merchant has a chance to know almost anything, either from his own experience or from the tales of fellow merchants and customers. This ability functions exactly like bardic knowledge (see the Bard section in Chapter 3 of the Player’s Handbook), except that the check modifier equals the character’s guild merchant level + his Intelligence modifier. Bard levels stack with merchant levels for the purpose of determining this modifier.

Merchant Check: The guild merchant makes a Knowledge (geography) check (DC 15) once per month or whenever he travels to a new culture. Success means he can use his knowledge of the culture he is visiting to his advantage, gaining a +4 circumstance bonus on certain skill checks. At 2nd level this bonus applies only to Appraise checks. For every 2 guild merchant levels thereafter, the bonus also applies to one addition skill, as shown on the guild merchant table. He retains these circumstance bonuses until his next Knowledge (geography) check. For particularly isolated or far-off cultures, the DM can raise the DC of the Knowledge (geography) check to 20 or higher.

Spells: Beginning at 1st level, a guild merchant can cast arcane spells just as a sorceror does. To cast a particular spell, the guild merchant must have a Charisma score of at least 10 + the spell’s level. The character gains bonus spells based on his Charisma score, the DC for the saving throws against his spells is 10 + the spell’s level + the guild merchant’s Charisma modifier.

The guild merchant does not acquire spells in the same manner as other arcane spellcasters. The various spells, many of which are unique to the Merchant’s Guild, are learned from other guild merchants who already know the spell. In order to ensure control of these spells, they are never written in spellbooks. See the list below for the spells available to a guild merchant.

When a guild merchant wants to learn a new spell, he must seek out another guild member who already knows it and convince him or her to teach the spell. This is supposed to be free of charge, as per guild regulations, but fees are not unheard of. Learning a 1st level spell takes 1 week. Learning a 2nd level spell takes 2 weeks. A 3rd level spell takes 4 weeks, and a 4th level spell takes 8 weeks. Often this training is conducted during long caravan trips, when there is little else to pass the time.

These spells and the secrets of their casting are carefully guarded. Indeed, most people are not even aware that these spells exist, especially since they generally lack any discernable components compared to more conventional arcane or divine casting. As such, the DC of any Spellcraft check made to identify a merchant spell is increased by 10, and that’s only if there is reason to suspect a spell was cast in the first place. The secrecy surrounding these spells has given Darokin merchants a reputation for a “sixth sense.”

Guild Merchant Spell List

1st level: calm animals*, clear sight (merchant only), count coins, detect chaos/evil/good/law, evaluate, ignore road, orientation, resist climate, trust.

2nd level: check load, crowd summoning, detect ambush, detect magic, hold animal*, quicken pace, savior faire, silver tongue.

3rd level: beast of burden, discern lies, find traps, darkvision, inventory, smuggling, weather eye.

4th level: accounting, charm person, check caravan, embezzle, resist magic.

* Only affects domesticated creatures familiar to the merchant.

The Guild Merchant
Level Base Attack Bonus Fort Save Ref Save Will Save Special Spells per Level
1 2 3 4
1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Bonus language, merchant lore 0 - - -
2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Merchant check (Appraise) 1 - - -
3 +2 +1 +1 +3 Bonus language 2 0 - -
4 +3 +1 +1 +4 Merchant check (Sense Motive) 2 1 - -
5 +3 +1 +1 +4 Bonus language 3 2 0 -
6 +4 +2 +2 +5 Merchant check (Bluff) 4 2 1 -
7 +5 +2 +2 +5 Bonus language 5 3 1 -
8 +6 +2 +2 +6 Merchant check (Diplomacy) 6 4 2 0
9 +6 +3 +3 +6 Bonus language 6 4 2 1
10 +7 +3 +3 +7 Merchant check (Forgery) 7 5 3 1