The Daggerspell Guardians are an organisation whose members use a unique fighting style that blends deadly magical powers and duel-wielding daggers. The organisation's purpose is to uncover evil hiding in civilisation and to meet out their sense of justice, as decided by individual members, using their unique abilities.[1]
Overview[]
Daggerspell Guardians members are given a large amount of freedom to find and punish evil, and are often found leading small adventuring groups to achieve their goals. Each member/group has a high degree of autonomy and they rarely interact with each other or work together, instead groups separately devote their time and energy into recruiting new members and researching new spells and fighting techniques for use in their peculiar martial arts. While all members devote countless hours to training with twin daggers, most members primarily use powerful magic to defeat their enemies. Some Guardians use magic to augment their martial prowess while proceeding to cut down enemies amidst a blur of slashing daggers. Others will use spells to destroy their enemies, surprising their foes with remarkable bladework should they ever approach in close quarters combat to cut down an ostensibly weak spellcaster.[1]
Joining the guild[]
Even though the Guardians have always been a relatively small guild, they only accept a small number of applicants looking to join their organisation, and as such they are always looking for new recruits. Potential members don't have to be particularly powerful but must show an affinity for casting spells, and demonstrate a sufficient enough dexterity so that future training in two weapons fighting styles is possible. All applicants looking to join the guild must have a sponsor who is most often already a Daggerspell member. Very occasionally, applicants may be sponsored by someone who isn't a guild member, but is similarly good-aligned and has a high amount of respect and relationship with the Daggerspell Guardians. Once a petition is received, the Guardians send an emissary to interview the candidate to determine their suitability for the organisation. Should the candidate be successful in their application, they are apprenticed to another guild member to be trained, either on the road while adventuring, or at the Daggerspell Guardians' monastery shrouded by ancient forest.[1][2]
Prestige classes[]
Members are often divided into one of two prestige classes: daggerspell mages and daggerspell shapers. Both groups are roughly equal in numbers and have just as much political clout as each other. The two roles are distinguished simply by their chosen power source and their approach to situations. Daggerspell mages tend to be brash and impulsive whereas daggerspell shapers tend to be calculating, quiet, and methodical, thus can be viewed as two different sides of the same coin.[1][2]
Daggerspell mage[]
The role of daggerspell mage is given to members favouring arcane techniques, such as wizards or sorcerers. They prefer to focus on spellcasting as their primary attack tools, but also train extensively in the art of twin dagger fighting and view this martial skill as just another facet of their fighting style. Like their counterparts, the daggerspell shapers, daggerspell mages whole-heartedly pursue justice but their views on morality can be fluid, and they often decide how to deal with problems and injustice in the heat of the moment.[2]
Daggerspell shaper[]
The role of daggerspell shaper is given to members favouring druidic magic and sometimes heroes who favour divine magic; they are most commonly druids and sometimes clerics. Their combat style favours their talented bladework and druidic magic in equal measures, merging the two to create blurring melee attacks enhanced by natural magics or combining the magical properties of their daggers into bestial claws for devastating a mauling. They view their fighting style as an embodiment of their philosophy, in that in the same way they can use their daggers to divide flesh from bone, so too can their daggers divide right from wrong, and nature from corruption.[2]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Jesse Decker (January 2005). Complete Adventurer. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 167–168. ISBN ISBN 0-7869-3651-7.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Jesse Decker (January 2005). Complete Adventurer. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 31, 36. ISBN ISBN 0-7869-3651-7.