The Farmers Guild

The Farmer's Guild serves to maintain order and regulations regarding the raising of animals and growing crops within Camp Hope. Every farmer living in the camp who is older than 40 can be a member of the guild. Each member has a role in caring for the animals or tending to the crops or distrubting the food to through out the camp.
In many cases, the guild intersects with work crews. Such groups take an interest in their members beyond a professional level, working to assure that they’re safe on the streets and at home so they can return to work the next morning. Those who mistreat a guild member might find themselves ostracized by all members of the guild, or even find themselves cornered by members of the guild’s associated work crew, their most menacing tools of the trade in hand.
The Farmers Guild takes their laws seriously, as do members of the Town Watch. If you flout the guild’s traditions, you can expect not only public scorn but also a visit from watchmen. In addition, the guild has their own codes of accusation, trial, and punishment, such as:

• Those who have been found harassing farmers will be jeered at in public by no less than four guild members for a period of four days.
• Anyone who causes intentional harm to one of the chickens will be banned from receiving any eggs.
• Any shop owner who is receiving product from the Guild that fails to observe their regulations will be subject to a product ban until the error is corrected.

While the Farmers Guild holds a great deal of power within the camp simply because it produced and distributes all of the camp's food. This means that they have the power to greatly impact the functioning of a faction, an individual or the camp itself. They are considered the life blood of the camp.
To advance the cause of civilized society, the Guild believes in the need for an ordered structure that orients the group toward the pursuit of the common good. At the same time, the guild’s connection with the natural world gives them a fervent appreciation for the interconnectedness of all things. The Farmer's Guild doesn’t tolerate selfishness or ambition, instead urging its members to put the needs of others ahead of their own desires and to use the power of nature — including nature’s wrath — to drive away those whose selfishness threatens the coherence of the group.

Diplomacy

The Farmers hold neutral affliations with the other factions in the camp. They do their best to treat all groups well as they have regular business with all of the factions. It is important to maintain at a reasonable relationship with the other factions to ensure good business.

Farmer Characters

• Alignment: Usually lawful, often good.
• Suggested Races: Human
• Suggested Classes: Civilian, Techie
• Suggested Archetypes: Authority, Sauve, Field Machinist
• Suggested Ladders: Survior, Runner 

Consider joining the Farmers if the following sentences ring true:

• You want to play a character that loves nature
• You like the idea of being part of a huge, peaceful community.
• You believe in victory through respectful teamwork, overwhelming numbers, or both.
• You want a spiritual connection to something bigger than just your character.

Joining the Farmers Guild

Background: Farmer

If your character was born and raised in Camp Hope, you can choose this background instead of those listed in the Ultra Modern Redux rule book.
You are a member of a blessed community, built on the ideals of harmony. Here, nature and civilization coexist peacefully, living and growing in accordance with the will of Mother Earth. As a member of the Farmers Guild, you are surrounded by people who share your worldview and your longing for deeper spiritual communion with the world, and you have a fervent desire to share the joy you have experienced with the rest of Camp Hope.

• Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Animal Handling
• select one of the following Tool Proficiencies: Carpenter’s Tools, Herbalism Kit, Leatherworker’s Tools, Smith’s Tools, Tinker’s Tools, Engineering Kit
• Languages: choose one additional language
• Equipment: A farmers insignia, a healer’s kit, the tool kit that you are proficient in, a set of common clothes, and 5 credits.
• You have 1 renown and are an intiate in the Farmers Guild.

Feature: Farmer’s Shelter

As a member of the Farmers Guild, you can count on your guild mates to provide shelter and aid. You and your companions can find a place to hide or rest in any farmer's home or business, unless you have proven to be a danger to them. The members of the guild will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives in this effort. In addition, as a guild member you can receive rations and care for your animals.

Suggested Characteristics

Most members of the Farmers Guild are true believers in the power and importance of nature. The tight-knit community allows little room for the cynical or disillusioned. They are spiritual, empathetic, and generally peaceful — unless roused to action. Their flaws and bonds alike grow naturally from their close ties to the community.

All life is sacred.

General Biases

These are the biases that are generally held by members of the Farmers Guild.

Positive Bias

• They favor those who have animals.
• They perfer individuals that are skilled with caring for animals. This bias triggers when a character has an Animal Handling skill of +10 or more.

Negative Biases

• They distrust anyone who intentionally harms an animal without reason. This bias triggers when a character has been witnessed abusing animals.
• They dislike people who are ignorant about nature. This bias triggers when a character has less than +10 to their nature skil.

Founding Date

22

Demonym

Farmers

Location

Camp Hope

Controlled Territories

• Farm
• Green Grocers

Related Items

• Nature's Shield

Related Species

• Human

Related Historical Events

• 22 SE
  The Farm Established and the Founding of the Farmers Guild

What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives?

–E.M. Forster

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing which stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and by these I shall not regulate my propositions. And some see no nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself.

–William Blake

Neutral

Town Watch

0

The Farmers Guild

0

Neutral

The Solstice Syndicate

0

The Farmers Guild

0

Neutral

The Scribes

0

The Farmers Guild

0

Neutral

The Farmers Guild

0

Church of Hope

0

Neutral

The Farmers Guild

0

Engineers

0

Neutral

The Farmers Guild

0

The Doctors

0

Structure

They make decision by democratic vote. All elders (those age 40 and above) are allowed to vote on decisions for the guild. Anyone within the guild can present a decision to the guild for voting.

Public Agenda

To feed the hungry.

Ethics

The Farmers Guild does not actually have a formal religion. They simple believe that humanity cannot be seperated from nature. When they speak about Mother Nature they are evoking the idea that we are children of this planet rather then speaking of an actual divine figure.

Contacts

The Farmers Guild is all about connections, so its members cultivate contacts throughout the guild. The guild also engages in energetic recruitment to draw converts from other factions, and often these new guild members maintain friendships with individuals in their former faction.
Roll twice on the Farmers Guild Contacts table (for an ally and a rival) and once on the Non-Farmer Guild Contacts table.

How Do I Fit In?

Although the guild teaches the importance of subjugating the individual will to the good of the conclave, it also celebrates the diversity of individuals, in the same sense that a field that produces different crops is healthier than one that yields a single crop. That principle applies to your skills as an adventurer. As long as your efforts are directed toward advancing the goals of the guild rather than your private agenda, you’re allowed to put your talents to work in your unique way.
That said, you must never lose sight of the fact that you are part of a larger community. That includes the whole guild, of course, but your ties to community start with your Enclave and its Voda. The Vodas want to know what you’re doing and what purpose it serves, and they act to curtail your actions — or even expel you from the guild — if they determine that you aren’t serving Mother Nature's best interests.

Rank and Renown

The Farmer's Guild doesn’t classify its members in a rigid hierarchy, because doing that would encourage individuals to seek to rise above the rest of the community and put their desires above the good of the whole. Thus, aside from the leadership of the Dignatary over the whole guild, and each Voda over their Enclave, the members of the guild are distinguished mainly by the diverse roles they fill instead of by rank or status.
Indeed, many Farmer Guild initiates never leave that basic role. They have discerned their purpose, and it is to live a proper life in support of the guild, without pursuing any kind of prestigious role. But if you achieve greater renown in the guild, a variety of special roles become available to you.
Regardless of renown and role, members of the guild don’t earn salaries. The guild cares for its own, however, and every member can live in a Enclave at the equivalent of a modest lifestyle.

Initiate

• Renown 1 with the Farmer's Guild.

New initiates come to the Farmers Guild as children, to be brought up by the guild’s members, or as recruits drawn from the factionless or the membership of other factions. Regardless of the path you took to get here, you start out in the role of initiate. As an initiate, you must subsume your desires to the needs of the guild while finding a way (under the guidance of your enclave’s leader) to put your talents to use in service to Mother nature. This effort isn’t so much a process of carrying out orders, but of gradually discerning the will of nature and finding your place in it.

• You gain access to the farms in Camp Hope. You are given the Farmer's Insignia.

Special Role: Evangel

• Prerequisite: Renown 3 or higher in the Farmer's Guild

Evangels extend their hands to potential converts and welcome new initiates into the life of the Farmers Guild. They include fervent preachers who speak the will of Mother Nature in the promenades and marketplaces, humble missionaries who serve among the poor in the camp, and even warriors who serve to protect the farms. As a evangel, you belong to a enclave and can expect help and support from that community, but you spend your time away from it, operating with a great deal of independence. When you return to your enclave, you teach and train new initiates.

• When you become an evangel, you gain one additional contact from a guild other than the Farmers Guild, which can be someone you have met in your adventures or chosen from the Non-Farmers Guild Contacts table earlier in this section.

Special Role: Votary

• Prerequisite: Renown 3 or higher in the Farmers Guild, proficiency with a weapon.

Votaries are soldiers who protect the gardens in Camp hope. As a votary, you are usually assigned to guard duty, but your voda might also assign you to special missions that require strength of arms. While you are in the garden you’re sworn to protect.

• When you become a votary, you gain an animal companion. Choose one of the following to be your companion: Bat, Cat, Deer, Eagel, Fox, Frog, Goat, Hare, Hawk, Owl, Pig, Rat, Raven, Sheep or Weasel. The animal has the stats as presented in the D&D Monster Manual. Your animal companion acts independently of you, but it always obeys your commands. In combat, it rolls its own initiative and acts on its own turn. An animal companion can't attack, but it can take other actions as normal.

Special Role: Equenaut

• Prerequisite: Renown 5 or higher in the Farmers Guild, proficiency in Animal Handling

Equenauts are knights who ride well trained draft horses. Most of the time, they serve by aiding with farming tasks that their horse can be useful for. But in times of need they are called to serve as gaurdians and scouts. Your mount effectively belongs to you, entrusted to your care. If it comes to harm through your negligence or mistreatment, you might be punished — perhaps to the extent of losing your position as an equenaut.

• You are given a draft horse. Use the stat block from the D&D monster manual.

Special Role: Hierarch

• Prerequisite: Renown 10 or higher in the Farmers Guild

The ranks of the Farmers Guild aren’t hierarchical, yet you are honored with the title of hierarch. Hierarchs lead rites that invoke the blessing of Mother Nature, bringing guild memebers into closer communion with nature and with each other. They are assisted in these rites by less experienced guild members. You have an important voice in decision-making for your enclave, and you are expected to offer advice and opinions to your voda when requested.

• As a hierarch, you can call on the aid of 1d4 initiates, even leading them on missions. Use the following state block for initiates: . Your position within the guild and your enclave gives you access to superior food and lodging, the equivalent of a comfortable lifestyle.

Special Role: Guardian

• Prerequisite: Renown 25 or higher in the Farmers Guild, 10th level or higher

The guardians are knights who serve the Farmers Guild as champions. They are considered the gaurdians of nature itself, with the duties being focused on protecting nature as a whole. This rank is likely to be outside of the camp as they are focused on a larger world view rather then just the camp.

• You are provided with a Nature's Shield.

Spacial Role: Dignitary

• Prerequisite: Renown 50 or higher in the Farmers Guild

Dignitaries act as emissaries in dealing with other factions. As a dignitary, you must be available when the guild has need of your service, but you have great latitude to pursue your vision of the guild’s goals.

• You can call on 10d10 initiates to support you in your missions, and 8d10 initiates for a mission of your own devising. Use the following stat blocks for these initiates: and . Your position gives you access to the best food and lodging, the equivalent of a wealthy lifestyle.