Welcome to Ravnica

City of Guilds

In all their fantastic diversity, the cosmopolitan citizens of Ravnica go about their daily business in bustling markets and shadowy back alleys. Shambling pack animals (mammals, reptiles, insects, and bizarre hybrids alike) carry their loads through the streets, while untamed wild things lurk in verdant greenbelts, rubble-strewn ruins, and sewers. And interwoven throughout it all, ten guilds vie for power, wealth, and influence:
Azorius Senate. The Azorius Senate functions as the government of Ravnica, built on the three columns of a legislative, a judicial, and an executive branch under the leadership of Isperia, the sphinx Supreme Judge.
Boros Legion. Led by the angel Aurelia, the Boros Legion pursues the cause of justice, not merely law enforcement. Boros serves as Ravnica’s standing army.
House Dimir. House Dimir is in the business of information, operating an espionage organization behind a facade of messengers, investigators, and archivists. Its enigmatic leader, Lazav, wears many faces.
Golgari Swarm. An elf lich named Jarad guides the Golgari Swarm’s masses as they lurk in the undercity, where they process the city’s waste and see to the new life that emerges from death and decay.
Gruul Clans. Raging against civilization and its defilement of the natural world, the loose alliance of the Gruul Clans is led by the cyclops Borborygmos.
Izzet League. Led by the dragon Niv-Mizzet, the Izzet League is a guild of scientists and engineers who build and sustain Ravnica’s infrastructure while conducting wild experiments in magic — efforts that usually involve barely controlled elemental energy.
Orzhov Syndicate. A sinister combination of church, bank, and organized crime syndicate, the Orzhov Syndicate is controlled by the Obzedat, a cabal of ancient spirits often called the Ghost Council.
Cult of Rakdos. The demonic Cult of Rakdos is the jester in Ravnica’s culture, using satire and performance to skewer the powerful and embolden the weak. But it is a cruel and bloodthirsty jester, in the manner of its demonic leader, and it supplements parody and levity with blood and fire.
Selesnya Conclave. The Selesnya Conclave is led by Trostani, three dryads who are fused together with one another and with Mat’Selesnya, a manifestation of the soul of the world. The guild seeks to bring nature and the city into balance.
Simic Combine. Under the leadership of Prime Speaker Zegana, the biomancers of the Simic Combine apply magic to the life sciences. Striving to create a harmonious future where creatures of all kinds are perfectly adapted to their ever-changing environment, the Simic magically hasten the process of evolution and adaptation of life.
These ten guilds stand as the foundation of power on Ravnica. Each maintains a distinctive identity and civic function, a diverse collection of creatures, and a subculture of its own. The guilds’ history is a web of wars, intrigue, and political machinations stretching over the millennia during which they have vied for control of the world. Their roles were established thousands of years ago in a magical treaty called the Guildpact, which not only assigned each guild a function, but also enforced an uneasy peace among them.
RANDOM GUILDS
Sometimes you might want to choose a guild at random. Here’s a table you can use in those situations.

d10	Guild
1	Azorius Senate
2	Boros Legion
3	House Dimir
4	Golgari Swarm
5	Gruul Clans
6	Izzet League
7	Orzhov Syndicate
8	Cult of Rakdos
9	Selesnya Conclave
10	Simic Combine

History of Ravnica

More than ten thousand years ago, a war tore across the world of Ravnica. Ten armies battled for control of the world in a conflict that ended with the creation of a magical contract of immense power known as the Guildpact. The leaders of each of the ten armies — ancient beings known as paruns — were the signatories to the Guildpact, and they became the first guildmasters of Ravnica.
The text of the Guildpact spelled out specific roles for each guild within the infrastructure of Ravnica, allowing the city to grow while the guilds coexisted in relative peace. But the true power of the Guildpact was the strength of its magically binding force, which absolutely prevented large-scale violence among the guilds.
For ten millennia, the city grew and flourished under this structure as the guilds evolved into unique and powerful forces, often venturing far from their original purpose.
The signing of the Guildpact marked the beginning of the modern Ravnican calendar. Years prior to that pivotal event are denoted as “Al Concordant,” or AC, and counted backward from 1 AC. Years after the signing are “Zal Concordant,” ZC. The current date is 10,076 ZC, usually referred to as ’76.

The Guildpact

During the Decamillennial Celebration of 10,000 ZC, commemorating a monumental anniversary of the Guildpact’s signing, the pact was broken, the ancient balance was shattered, and Ravnica was thrown into chaos. It didn’t take long for wealthy power-mongers to begin seizing control of elements in the city, turning the guilds to their service instead of the other way around. Eventually, the ten-thousand-year-old guild culture and division of duties reasserted itself. The ten guilds regained their dominant positions, but without the magically binding force of the Guildpact to maintain the balance among them.

RAVNICA'S CALENDAR

Ravnica’s year of 365 days is made up of twelve months, each of which has the same number of days as its counterpart in the Gregorian calendar. The year begins with 1 Seleszeni, which corresponds to March 1.

Life in the Big City

Ravnica is a vast city, covering the entirety of the world in many layers of construction, from deep sewers and catacombs to sky-raking spires. No single map can encompass the tremendous scope of its sprawl, and its borders (if it has any) are unknown, except possibly to those who live near the edges.
The story of Ravnica focuses on its core. Sometimes called the city proper, this core is divided into ten districts, each of which is a huge urban environment in its own right. The districts are named in simple numerical order from the First to the Tenth. No correlation exists between the ten guilds and the ten districts; all ten guilds are active in all ten districts. The Tenth District, in particular, is a hotbed of activity where all the guilds maintain their primary headquarters. It is the focus of chapter 3.
A huge avenue called the Transguild Promenade runs through all ten districts, making it the most notable landmark for navigation through the city’s heart. Lined with markets, small parks, and colonnades, the Promenade is a commercial thoroughfare used to transport loads of cargo. On celebration days, it becomes the city’s most popular parade route. Even when guild conflicts run hot, Ravnicans respect the sanctity of the Promenade as neutral ground.
Beyond the core are an uncounted number of other districts, which originated as outlying cities that gradually melded into the expanding metropolis. Well-known districts outside the core include the Smelting District, Irbitov (the mausoleum district), and Jezeru (the lake district).
Districts, whether in the city proper or beyond it, are the fundamental configurations that define Ravnica. They are informally divided into various quarters, neighborhoods, and the like. Some of these areas extend across district boundaries. Deadbridge, for example, existed as a well-defined neighborhood before Ravnica City was formally divided into ten districts, and that division was made without consideration of Deadbridge’s informally acknowledged boundaries. Part of Deadbridge, known as Deadbridge Chasm, occupies much of the Tenth District’s Precinct Six, but it extends out into the neighboring area. Similar neighborhoods, both within and outside the city proper, include the Steambath Quarter, the Wrights’ Quarter, and Mahovna, the Haven of Moss.

GUILD INSIGNIA

Members of Ravnica’s guilds typically carry guild insignia with them, though in some cases (notably House Dimir) the insignia might be carefully hidden. A replacement insignia costs 5 gp and is available only to members of the guild. Any character can use the insignia of their guild as a spellcasting focus, as described in chapter 10 of the Player’s Handbook.

Currency: Zibs and Zinos

This book uses standard D&D coinage, as detailed in the Player’s Handbook, but in Ravnica, citizens refer to their money as zibs and zinos, with 100 zibs to 1 zino. There is no central mint, as coins are created by the Azorius, the Boros, and the Orzhov. The Ravnica Currency table summarizes the various guilds’ coinage and its value.
Ravnica Currency

Value	Azorius	Boros	Orzhov
1 cp	copper zib	-	copper alms-coin
25 cp	silver 25-zib coin	-	-
1 ep	electrum 50-zib coin	-	-
1 gp	gold zino	gold zino	-
5 gp	-	gold 5-zino coin	-
1 pp	-	-	platinum 10-zino coin
10 pp	-	-	platinum 100-zino coin

Comforts of Civilization

A mixture of technological advancement and sophisticated magic offers amenities to the people of Ravnica that would be extraordinary to folk in most D&D worlds, except one like Eberron. The nicer neighborhoods of the city enjoy central heating and plumbing (thanks to the work of the Izzet League), elevators, and spacious apartments. Even poorer neighborhoods boast clean and smooth roads and sturdy construction. No one needs to go hungry in Ravnica, because the Golgari Swarm provides a bare minimum of sustenance to anyone who can’t afford better food, though it is best not to think too much about where the thick gruel comes from. (In practical terms, even a character who can’t afford more than a wretched lifestyle doesn’t need to go hungry.)
The citizens of Ravnica enjoy plenty of leisure time, and the city offers an abundance of ways to fill it. Ravnica features restaurants with extensive collections of fine wines, cafés serving coffee and tea, street vendors offering portable meals, and bakeries that sell a wide variety of breads and pastries. Travelers can stay in luxury hotels or simple hostels, or they can rely on their personal or guild-related contacts to find housing. Diversions and entertainments abound, including raucous street-side theater (including the circus-like spectacles of the Cult of Rakdos), operas and symphonies, illegal fight clubs, sporting events held in vast arenas, throwaway popular novels, and great works of literature. These things are shared by the city’s diverse peoples, who enjoy a life adorned by a variety of species, gender identities, and sexual orientations.
Well-established systems undergird society, largely through the efforts of the guilds. The Azorius Senate crafts, codifies, and enforces a comprehensive (some would say oppressive) set of laws. The banks of the Orzhov Syndicate offer secure vaults and complicated financial arrangements. The Izzet League maintains the city’s infrastructure, and the Golgari Swarm ensures that waste is disposed of (or recycled). House Dimir couriers deliver messages and parcels across the city, and the Simic Combine addresses issues of public health.
Ravnica lacks any large-scale agriculture operations, its citizens depending on food produced in Selesnya gardens and underground Golgari rot farms. Few parts of Ravnica could be considered wilderness; the rubblebelts, areas where the city has decayed and been reclaimed by natural forces, are the only truly wild areas.

Cosmopolitan Conveniences

Item	Cost
Cup of coffee	10 cp
Newspaper	15 cp
Pendulum clock	100–250 gp
Spectacles	25 gp
Spyglass	50–100 gp

Languages

Dozens of languages can be heard in any of Ravnica’s marketplaces, and every tongue has dialects and regional variations. In order for the guilds to function, the Common language is essential. But other languages remain widely used in homes and clan gatherings.
Standard Languages

Language	Typical Speakers	Script
Abyssal	Demons, devils	Infernal
Celestial	Angels	Celestial
Common	Humans	Common
Draconic	Dragons	Draconic
Elvish	Elves	Elvish
Giant	Ogres, giants	Minotaur
Goblin	Goblins	Common
Kraul	Kraul	Kraul
Loxodon	Loxodons	Elvish
Merfolk	Merfolk	Merfolk
Minotaur	Minotaurs	Minotaur
Sphinx	Sphinxes	-
Sylvan	Centaurs, dryads	Elvish
Vedalken	Vedalken	Vedalken

A few secret or exotic languages are used on Ravnica as well. Druidic exists and allows a secret communication among druids in different guilds, such as Selesnya and Golgari, but such communication is rare. Thieves’ cant is widely used among street gangs and occasionally among rogues in House Dimir and the Golgari Swarm.