Bounty Hunter Guild v1.0 Bounty hunter guilds can be an important part of any country’s criminal justice system. In a time before extradition treaties and global watch groups, bounty hunter guilds allow both governments and individuals to achieve assistance bringing criminals to justice. This details the various workings of a lawful neutral bounty hunter guild for use in your world/game. Members Wanted! For 50 gold per year, members enjoy access to the guild hall, a badge signifying their membership in the guild, access to all active bounties, the ability to collect on all active open bounties, access to the guild commissary, a single place to deliver bounties, networking with other professionals in the field, a surplus of helpful mentors, and access to legal services as needed. Code of Conduct Members will not accept a bounty from any non-sanctioned bounty hunter guild or source outside of the guild.

Members will abide by the direction of senior members of the guild.

Members will abide by local laws and ordinances while attempting to collect on a bounty.

Once a member has signed onto a closed bounty, they are considered to be “on the job” until the bounty is complete.

Members are expected to stay in good grace and contribute to the honor of the guild, those who do not will be asked to resign.

Members are expected to report other members who break any of the guild's code of conduct.

Members will not commit any unlawful or egregious acts against other members of the guild or the guild itself including, but not limited to, theft, assault, slander, or murder. Guild Ranks There are 5 ranks in guilds. The following details the specifics of members of the bounty hunter guild. Apprentice: Starting place for guild members. Apprentice bounty hunters cannot bid on closed contracts. To rise in rank, they must complete 10 bounties and be sponsored by a guild member at the journeymen rank or higher. Craftsman: After successfully completing 10 bounties, the member is upgraded to craftsman. They can now bid on closed contracts worth up to 1000 gold. They typically work out of or near the guild, and after completing 50 bounties are eligible to rise in rank, but must be sponsored by a member of master rank or higher. Journeyman: After 100 successful bounties, a bounty hunter is now considered an elite member of the guild. As with other guilds, they are expected to travel a bit more than lower and higher level members, interacting with multiple guild locations. They can bid on closed contracts worth up to 10,000 gold. To rise in rank, they must complete another 100 bounties, and must be sponsored by a guild master. The location of the guild master determines where they will serve as a master. Master: Only the best bounty hunters ever receive this rank. They typically serve at the guild location where their sponsor is the guild master. They can bid on contracts of any amount. All master bounty hunters at a specific guild location have a collective “veto power” over the actions of the Guild Master. If they decide with a 75% vote something the Guild Master has done is unjust or violates the spirit of their charter, they can “discipline” the Guild Master. This happens rarely. If their Guild Master retires or dies, they are responsible for electing a new Guild Master. Grandmaster: These bounty hunters are guild masters. They no longer bid on bounties, but instead receive a tithe of every bounty fulfilled by the guild (10%) which is split between their personal funds and the guild funds. As such, their responsibility is not only to run the guild, but also ensure their guild members are as successful as possible, as often as possible. To advance in rank, every guild member must be sponsored by a member of a higher rank. That member takes the sponsee under their wing and they work together as a team to complete several bounties together. During that time, the sponsor mentors the member. This period of apprenticeship can last as long as the sponsor deems appropriate. Every member who has sponsored members before has their own, unique reputation. The best sponsors are known to be helpful, insightful, and do not make the sponsee jump through too many hoops. Nightmarish sponsors treat sponsorship as a form of hazing and attempt to humiliate the sponsee as often, and as publicly, as possible. Bounty hunters rising through ranks can gain close friends, or spited enemies from former sponsors. Relationship with Other Entities While people may not love the bounty hunter guild, they are well funded and organized. Since they seek to operate within the confines of local laws, their existence is much more tolerated than thief guilds and assassin guilds.

Non-Compete Clauses All bounty hunter guilds have non-compete agreements with the other bounty hunter guilds, although other organizations not so much. Clients sign agreements saying they will not post bounties with organizations other than the guild, and will not make the bounties public. This prevents violent altercations with multiple entities trying to fulfil the same bounty. However, this does not guarantee their client will follow this rule, and sometimes they don’t. If a client (usually a government), breaks this rule and no guild members are hurt, incarcerated, fined, killed, etc. thus, this results in the client being fined 100% of the posted bounty price. If something happens to a guild member thus, or the client refuses to pay the fee, they are blacklisted and are no long allowed to post bounties with the guild. In addition, all other bounty hunter guilds are obligated to blacklist the organization as well until recompense has been paid. Local Governments The bounty hunter guild must worry about the local government where their clients reside, but also the local government where their guild is located. Thus, guilds tend to exist in towns and kingdom where they are given special dispensations and immunity to certain conditions. However, this completely depends on each individual guild and their location. Most guilds will have a legal liaison who works with local governments to ensure their compliance with all local laws and ordinances. Bounty Hunter Guild Network Among other things, the Guild Masters of each guild is expected to have a friendly relationship with the guild masters of other bounty hunter guilds. Because they seldom take vacations, this results in them sending lots of letters, usually through journeymen bounty hunters. Over years, they establish close relationships with other guild masters and bounties are shared between the organizations. If a guild master of another guild does not honor a fulfilled bounty, this can result in the two guilds now longer working together. Based upon who was in the wrong, they can even get blacklisted from other bounty hunter guilds as well. Other Guilds Most bounty hunter guilds allow dual memberships because they have close relationships with the Thieves’ Guild, Mercenaries Guild, and often the Lawyers Guild. Their Guild Master will work with other local guilds to make sure they are not butting heads or competing directly with each other. Some Bounty Hunters Guilds have an Assassins Guild buried deeply inside their organization. Assassins Guilds are seldom legal in most lawful countries, although exceptions exist. Thieves’ Guild Close is an appropriate description for the bounty hunter guild’s relationship with the Thieves’ Guild, although friendly might not be. Depending upon where they are, the two might be friendly or outright at war with each other. After all, bounty hunters primary source of income is capturing members of the Thieves’ Guild. The Guild Hall Along with access to bounties, legal representation as needed, and comradery, another benefit of being in the Bounty Hunters Guild is access to the Guild Hall. Work Lounge The guild hall has an open lounge area, mostly filled with maps and books on local laws, where all of the open bounties are posted on the wall. In addition, there is a clerk with a ledger detailing closed bounties that allows guild members of the appropriate rank bid on those bounties. The lounge area has couches, tables, chairs, desks, and plenty of pitchers of water. It is there bounty hunters can research, take notes, and plan bounties before attempting to execute. While just a formality, there is also a bulletin board that contains things such as: Bounty hunters seeking partners “Half-Orc M, good with battleaxes. Seeking orc or human F for fun times taking dead or alive bounties”

Wanted signs for goods or services

Offers of assistance Most bounty hunters will scribble their initials on any open bounty if they are going to pursue it. While just good manners, this lets other members of the guild know which contracts are being pursued by multiple other bounty hunters. The Leader Boards Every work lounge has a leaderboard for each rank of guild membership. Each member is ranked by the total number of gold earned times the number of successfully completed missions divided by 1 + losses. A loss is where the bounty hunter screw up a bounty (killed an alive only bounty), backed out of a closed, caused the guild shame, damaged the guild reputation with other organizations, or for other actions at the discretion of the guild master. It should be noted that Leader Boards are recognized only interior to that guild, and while high scores might be appreciated in other guilds they are not recognized by other bounty hunter guilds. Teams of bounty hunters must divide the wins among them, so a group of 4 bounty hunters who capture a bounty for 1000 gold all have 250 gold added to their score and ¼ of a completed bounty. Example Score: A bounty hunter who has earned a lifetime amount of 23765 gold, across 63 bounties, with no losses would have a score of 1,497,195. However, that same bounty hunter with 2 losses would have a score of only 499, 065. Since advancing in rank requires not only completion of several bounties, but also sponsorship by a guild member 2 levels higher than the member, the leaderboards are important indicators of ability and worth to the organization. Only those at the top of their ranks leaderboards are considered for sponsorship. Holding Cells Most bounty hunter guilds have holding cells; some even have representatives of the local law enforcement or members of the law enforcement of their client’s location on hand most of the time. Once the bounty hunter has delivered the mark to the guild, they are no longer responsible for that mark and can get paid.

Vault The vault of the bounty hunter guild are the most secure place in the guild hall and store both gold, but more importantly records. They do use banks and other secure buildings to keep much of their wealth, but their records are also important. Most keep backups of all records somewhere off site as well. Guild members have their gold directly deposited into the guild accounts, and can deposit and withdraw money at will. They can also stash personal belongings there as well. Commissary A guild merchant will run the guild commissary, which is the guild store. There members have access to specialized tools of the trade such as manacles, bolas, nets, and even non-lethal poisons. The variety of inventory is somewhat more limited than armories, weaponsmiths, and other merchants but is designed entirely around supplying a bounty hunter with everything they need. Prices for mundane goods (such as trail rations) might be a little more than standard market, but in case the a member is in a hurry it prevents them from having to run around town buying supplies before leaving. Sources of Guild Revenue All bounties filled through the guild are tithed 10% for operating expenses. This money goes to the guild master but the guild master’s money and the guild’s money are essentially the same thing. If the guild master retires, they are not allowed to cash out all the guilds assets, they can take a percentage as agreed upon by the masters in the guild. In addition to a percentage of the bounties, the guild makes money from the 50gp/year membership fees, as well as profits from the guild commissary. Guild Jobs Instead of performing bounties, guild members can also serve as one of several job functions. The only non-guild members ever allowed in the guild hall are law enforcement agents of friendly governments, and even they are only allowed in the holding cells to pick up marks. Depending upon the position, members accumulate income as well as “effective bounties” to count towards their guild score. Guild Guards: Any member can serve as a guard. Most often these brand new bounty hunters trying to increase their rank, or older members who never achieved high enough status to advance in the ranks very high but are old enough they are tired of being on the road and collecting bounties. Guild Notaries: Guild notaries can be of any rank, but are required to have dual membership with a scribe’s guild or other form of notary guild so that their actions are considered recognized by local laws and/or trade organizations. They are the ones who sign off on closed contracts, register members as official “teams”, and other such official business. Guild Merchants: While the guild only has a small number of merchants (running the commissary), guild merchants usually have dual membership with the merchant’s guild. Although this requires more gold out of their pockets, because they must be members of both, the guilds do not allow competition in the guild hall so they have a captive group of customers. They are also the only ones who can sell guild-specific merchandise such as replacement badges, uniforms, hats with the guild’s logo, etc. Guild Transporters: A more specialized form of guard, typically only craftsman and above take these jobs. Guild transporters have two primary jobs, transporting gold from the clients back to the guild or transporting marks to the government that seeks to punish them. Guild Advocates: Most often journeymen, guild advocates are responsible for dealing with all parties and organizations external to the guild. They negotiate bounties with clients, collect payment from clients, work with local governments/law enforcement, and, when needed, serve as legal counsel for members who might get entangled with the local law. Senior Guild Members: All master guild members, in addition to seeking lucrative bounties, they are responsible for mentoring subordinate guild members, as well as overseeing the day to day functions of the guild. Guild Master: Only grandmaster guild members can be guild masters. Their jobs are to oversee success of the guild, and see their guild members be as successful as possible. Standard Bounties Standard bounties are posted by the following sections: Open or Closed Bounty

Gold Amount

Name(s) of the Mark(s)

Description of the Mark

Last Known Location of the Mark(s)

Delivery

Terms of Retrieval: Alive, Dead or Alive, or Other

Client (can be anonymous)

Time Limit and/or Time Bonus Open vs Closed Bounties The guild decides if the bounty is posted as an open bounty or a closed bounty, not the client. Since their mission is to be as successful as often as possible, they mark bounties as closed if they don’t want mobs of bounty hunters going after a high profile or wealthy mark. Bounties can be issued as open bounties and closed bounties. Open bounties are first come first serve, although members of the bounty hunter guild are forbidden from stealing bounties from other bounty hunters. Bounty hunters of any guild rank can go after open bounties. Open bounties are typically worth under 500gp.

Close bounties can only have one hunter vying for them at a time. Sometimes, a higher level guild member will take the contract, then sub-let that bounty to lower ranking guild members at a lesser price. This most often happens when a large payout bounty is made for a relatively easy target. Only higher ranking bounty hunters are allowed to bid on the contract, but if they deem it “beneath them”, they’ll sublet to their subordinates. GIZMU 800 GP (OPEN BOUNTY)

Also known as "Gizmu the War Goblin", "Bovine Butcherer", and "Guest of Yo Mamma's Place." He's 3 1/2 feet tall, bright red mohawk, usually carries a bloodied blade. Last seen in the town of Vansween, butchering a cow. Wanted DEAD or ALIVE deliverable to the constabulary of Vansween or a dozen other villages and cities within 50 miles of it. Paid for by the villages and principalities of south east Dravens. If completed within the next moon cycle, a 20% bonus will be paid upon completion. Bidding on a Closed Contract When a closed contract is posted, it will be open for a set period of time, typically a week allowing bounty hunters still out in the field a chance to report back and bid. Everyone who bids on the contract has the option to underbid the people before them, remembering that 10% already goes to the guild (example, will do the contract for 86% of the posted bounty, instead of the normal 90%). The person of the highest rank, with the lowest bid price wins the contract. Guild members who underbid their colleagues and then sub-let the bounty to a subordinate are considered rude, and can be disciplined by the guild master. Backing Out of a Closed Bounty Through circumstance, sickness, or just being unqualified, sometimes bounty hunters must back out of a closed bounty, and step down from trying to pursue it. If the Guild Master deems this was an honorable choice (they are doing so because of events out of their control), then nothing happens. If it is deemed they have failed because being incapable of skill to achieve the bounty, it is recorded as a loss in their permanent record. Gold Amount Bounties are assigned a gold value. While the client typically comes with an idea in mind, guild advocates will work with the clients to assign a value that is realistic to the job at hand, and is a fair contract for both the clients and the guild. In these cases, the guild advocates look to take care of the guild and the guild members, and will even go so far as to reject offers that seem unrealistic or not worth it. The Mark All bounties will require a name for the mark, even if it’s a pseudoname or alias. In fact, some infamous bandits and thieves are believed to have several bounties on their head, but all refering to different identities. Before posting the bounty, guild advocates will ask around and try to find as much information as they can about the mark to include in the bounty before posting it publicly. Description The mark might be described by physical appearance, but they also might be known just by their signature actions that act as identifiers. Last Known Location Any last known location should be submitted along with the bounty. Delivery of the Mark As a part of the bounty, the location of delivery is spelled out in the bounty. They are usually just delivered to the guild hall, and then either the guild transports them to the government taking custody of the mark or the the government sends agents to the guild hall to collect the mark. Either way, those taking custody of the mark must sign for them, and then the guild considers the bounty fulfilled. Directly to Jail For time sensitive bounties or those in special situations, the client may wish the mark to be delivered to a specific location, usually controlled by law enforcement. Depending upon the dangers associated with the bounty hunter taking the mark directly there instead of back to the guild (in friendly territory), this can cause the price of the bounty to go up. Until the Final Punishment Some clients will pay extra to keep the bounty hunters guild involved until the mark is punished. For extremely high profile clients, or when working with governments where corruption is rampant, and in this case the member who delivers the mark is off the hook, but the guild will send guards and guild transporters with the government officials to ensure they mark does not escape. Terms of Retrieval The most common type of bounty issued is for alive bounties, although some are labeled as alive or dead. The bounty hunters guild does not issue “dead only” bounties, that would step on the toes of the assassins guild, which of course doesn’t exist. If the bounty is issued as alive or dead, that means the government that wants them has already convicted them with a capital punishment. If they are killed, the client will still pay the full amount of the bounty. If the bounty is issued as alive only, and the target is killed, the client is not obligated to pay the bounty and any deposit paid on the bounty will be refunded to them. In addition, the bounty hunter who lost the mark is required to pay 10% of the bounty to the guild to recoup the hassle.

If a mark is killed during an attempt to capture them, the bounty hunter is subject to all normal laws of the local government where the death occurred. However, in these cases the bounty hunters guild provides legal support in the form of staff, legal experts, and if necessary guild funds. In the guild incurs expenses defending the bounty hunter with local court, the bounty hunter is obligated to recoup the funds plus expenses. Clients Clients are most often governments, quite often foreign governments who have no jurisdiction in the area where the guild operates. They will contract with the local bounty hunters guild to abduct the mark, and bring them to the region where they are wanted as a criminal. The bounty hunters guild negotiates with their own local governments to make sure this is all legal where they operate, and the guild will not openly issue bounties on those who have approved local political asylums. Individuals can place bounties on others, but only as long as they are in compliance with local laws. This most often happens when someone is already a criminal, but not wanted enough that the government has issued a bounty. In these cases private citizens or organizations can place a bounty. The bounty hunters guild, and other bounty hunters guilds, can place bounties on those who have violated terms of agreement although they are only legally allowed to capture the mark and deliver them to local courts for normal trials. Without permission from local governments, they are not allowed to perform their own punishments. To be registered with the Bounty Hunters guild, the client must place a downpayment of 50% of the bounty. Those who renege on payments have a bounty worth twice the original bounty placed on their heads for nonpayment. Example, if a client issued a 500gp bounty, and paid 250gp then refused to pay the other 250gp later, a bounty of 1000gp would be placed on their head. If the client is an organization, instead of an individual they are instead blacklisted as a consequence, with the expectation that other bounty hunters guilds will do the same. For an additional fee to the guild, clients can be made anonymous on the bounty notice. This amount is negotiated by the representative of the guild negotiating the bounty. Time Limits Some bounties have time limits or incentives for completing the bounty quickly. These bounties will offer anywhere from a 10% to 50% bonus if the bounty is fulfilled within a certain period of time. This bonus is not included when considering who can bid on a closed bounty. However, most often the guild will issue urgent bounties as open bounties, unless the target is extremely high profile and requires finesse. Some bounties have a termination date, and expire after a certain period of time. This is most common when the mark is reaching a statute of limitations for their crimes. Non-Standard Bounties and Special Circumstances Additional circumstances arise, which can cause bounties to be out of the norm. This section details some of those additional situations. Specialty Bounties Bounties can be taken out to do specific actions, as long as they comply with all local laws of where the issuer resides, as well as the local government of the bounty hunters guild. Some bounties could be places to perform specific actions to or against specific marks, as long as the punishment for that action is nothing more than a fine and that amount should be included in the bounty. For example, a noble knows a rival noble has stolen a priceless work of art, so he places a bounty on retrieving the art. Knowing full well, regardless of whether or not the art is there, the bounty hunter will be charged with breaking and entering (and maybe trespassing), the noble pays the fines associated with those crimes up front. Illicit Bounties All illegal bounties are closed bounties. These bounties are most often taken out when the mark has fled from a country where their actions were illegal to countries where their crimes are not illegal. In these cases, the local government doesn’t recognize them as having committed any crimes so technically the bounty hunter guild has no rights to extradite the mark; extradition should be done by the government. In these cases, some bounty hunter guilds have arrangements with the local governments allowing them to do these things anyways, but often they must instead issue an illicit bounty. Working Together Bounty hunters are allowed to work together to fulfil bounties, as apprentice bounty hunters often do. If they are working on a closed bounty together, the senior member of their group is the one who puts their name on the bounty, with other members considered as “secondaries” on the bounty. Bounty hunters working together to fulfil open bounties should register themselves as a “team” with the guild, that way if any wrongdoing occurs or there is any conflict about who should be paid, everything is acknowledged up front. Bounty Parties and Group Bounties Sometimes a bounty will be placed on an entire group of people, which often requires multiple bounty hunter guilds work together. These are always closed bounties, as the guilds don’t want wave after wave of apprentice bounty hunters getting cut down by the marks. The highest ranking guild member willing signs their name, and requires all of those wishing to participate to sign on as secondaries.The rank of guild member able to bid on the contract is based upon the highest individual bounty in the group. For Example: The Bovine Killer Goblin Gang has a bounty placed out on them, dead or alive. The leader has a bounty of 1000 gold placed on his head, and his second in command has a bounty of 500 gold placed on his head, with 50 gold for each other member of the gang. A craftsman rank bounty hunter can bid on the contract.