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Boros
The Boros Legion represents the militant arm of the guilds. It represents the order-keeping element of Ravnica, ensuring that the citizens don’t become too rowdy. The irony being, of course, that the furious and zealous Boros legionnaires can cause almost as much damage as they intend to prevent.
Alignment: Lawful Good, at least on paper. Individual members vary, usually towards Chaos. Their colors are White and Red. Their symbol is a flaming fist.
Leader: Razia, an archangel.
Classes: The Boros are highly militant, and their classes reflect it. Some examples include Champions, Favoured Souls, King’s Troopers, Mage Blades, Marshals, Paladins, Samurai, Soulborne, Warmain, and Warmages.
Races: The Legion is made of a smattering of militant-minded races. Some typical examples include Humans, Dwarves, Minotaurs, Goblins, and Giants of all types.
Quote: “…The Boros have given him the skill of a soldier and focused his heart with a single cause.”
Orzhov
The church of Orzhova is a decaying hall of decadence and deals. The corrupt spirit lords who preside over it dish out spiritual guidance, along with all manner of illicit goods and services, in exchange for power.
Alignment: Lawful Evil. By and large, the guild is bent this way, although a step or two away isn’t unheard of. Their colors are Black and White. Their symbol is an eclipsed sun.
Leader: The Ghost Council, a group of approximately a dozen spirits.
Classes: The church is without an official military or militia. Instead, they rely on deal-making and magic. Typical classes for Orzhov include Clerics, Magisters, Nobles, Tyranny Paladins, and Void Cultists.
Races: The church sports all manner of creatures, but enjoys the company of Bael, Mojh, Spirit Folk, Teiflings, and Verrick.
“Unlike most churches, at Orzhova it’s best to pray before you arrive.”
Selesnya
The arboreal guild of Selesnya keeps the tradition of lovely, luscious greenery alive with massive gardens. The guild produces most of the city’s food, and has become very wealthy off their agricultural prowess.
Alignment: Neutral Good. Some slight bending towards Lawful. Their colors are White and Green. Their symbol is a tree reaching to the sun.
Leadership: The Chorus of the Conclave, a council of dryads.
Classes: These keepers of the natural world feature a number of nature-loving classes. These include Druids, Greenbond, Healers, Rangers, Spirit Shaman, Witches, and Woodsmen.
Races: Creatures which might be lost in the big city find help within the Selesnya guild. The guild is comprised of Elves, Centaurs, Dryads, Dromites, and Awakened.
Quote: “Let the song of Selesnya be heard above the rhythm of our thundering hordes!”
Azorius
Leadership and bureaucracy are needed to run any large economic conglomerate. The Azorius Senate are the strong backbone to which the rest of Ravnica is supported. The Azorius also control most of the courts, dealing out justice after suspects are apprehended by the Boros.
Alignment: Lawful Neutral. Some shifting, but always lawful. Their colors are Blue and White. Symbol is a labyrinth held in a triangle.
Leader: Grand Arbiter Augustine, head of the Ravnica courts.
Classes: As the ruling class, there is very little in the way of military might presented by the Azorius. Their favored classes run in the lines of Akashiks, Bards, Chronomancers, Magisters, Nobles, Specialists, and Soldiers of Truth.
Races: The Azurious are led by the height of nobility and grace. Typical members include Humans, Elan, Illumian, Loxodon, and Twi’lek
Quote: “Your deed cannot be undone. You, however, can be.”
Dimir
The Dimir don’t exist. They never have. The Dimir are a ghost story that overworked mothers tell to their children. Certainly, no guild of assassins, lorebrokers, and sewer monsters could dwell in such a well-regulated city.
Alignment: Neutral Evil. Or maybe not. Their colors would be Black and Blue, if they existed. The symbol associated with them is a monstrous eye.
Leader: A farcical legend was created for the shadow-guild’s leader: a psychic vampire over 10,000 years old by the name of Szadek.
Classes: According to the myth, the Dimir feature all manner of unsavoury characters. These might include Hex Blades, Mahoutsukai, Ninja, Psions, Rogues, Shadow Mages, Spellthieves, and Transmuters.
Races: What races might make up such a group? One can only guess, but that guess might include Changelings, Drallok, Gloamings, Naga, Shadar-Ki, and Yuan-Ti.
Quote: “In a space where there is no room, in a structure that was never built, meets the guild that doesn’t exist.”
Simic
In their horrible labs, twisted creatures lay sprawled out on labs, while twisted creatures breath life into them. The Simic are a clan of creators, pushing new life into the city. The Simic were origionally responsible for the preservation of the native life. Having thusly failed, they have taken to making life capable of thriving in the city.
Alignment: Neutral. Complete scientific displacement. Their colors are Blue and Green. Their symbol is a willow with a tidal wave for branches.
Leader: An elvish biomancer named Momir Vig.
Classes: The Simic favor the research-minded and tend to focus on intellectual rather than physical pursuits. They favor Calculators, Flesh Magi, Paragons, Psychic Warriors, Tattoo Magi, and Enchanters.
Races: Nearly any race might end up as a Simic war monster. However, the wizards themselves tend towards Verrik, Bothan, Illumian, Mongrelfolk, and Phaerlock.
Quote: “Its darkened sap penetrates natural fibers and spreads its own genes. Emulation experiments are underway.”
Izzet
The builders of the great city works projects of the city are the industrious and resourceful Izzet. They are consummately delving into unexplored theorems, probing the very nature of the universe. At the same time, they’re also blasting away massive chunks of the city with their failures.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral. A few head towards True Neutral or Chaotic Good. Their colors are Blue and Red. The Izzet symbol is a likeness of the guild’s dragon founder.
Leader: Niv-Mizzit the Firemind, an ancient wyrm red dragon.
Classes: The Izzet prefer any class which can satisfy their curiosity. These include Alchemists, Artificers, Kenza, Mech Jockeys, Steamborgs, Technomancers, and Tinkers.
Races: Only races with sufficient intellectual capacity can even apply. These might include Gnomes, Goblins, Dracha, Dragon-Kin, and Elementals.
Quote: “My criticism of the Izzet is that their impulse for learning seems too much like impulse and too little like learning.”
Gruul
A collection of several independent tribes more than a structured clan, the Grull balk at the oppressive system of guilds. They prefer chaos, and yearn to go back to a simpler time. They support this view with armed uprisings and subtle civil disobedience.
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral. Bends towards evil. Their colors are Red and Green. The Gruul symbol is a burning tree.
Leader: Leadership is nominally given to Borborygmos, a cyclops.
Classes: The Gruul like collateral damage and hurting things. Their favored classes include Barbarians, Guerillas, Rogues, Totemists, Totem Speakers, and Wilder.
Races: The Gruul prefer bigness, but are willing to accept the crafty and malcontent. Their ranks include Goblins, Ogres, Giants, Centaur, Lizardmen, and Troglodytes.
Quote: “Gruul shamans are bent on punishing the civilized. Any act more complex than rubbing sticks together or eating with utensils is met with the stinging burn of their magic.”
Rakdos
A clan of wicked, depraved souls, the Rakdos represent the worst of Ravnica. The clan as a whole worships the demon lord Rakdos, a hideous monster of flame and pain. The individual members illicit divine power in their quest for destruction and pain. They delight in torture, suffing, and death.
Alignment: Chaotic Evil. Colors of Black and Red. The symbol, usually burned into the flesh of victims, is a flaming skull.
Leadership: The guild is still officially led by Rakdos himself.
Classes: The Rakdos take to those vocations which enable them to vent their evil best. These include Barbarians, Clerics, Hex Blades, Initiates, Mercenaries, Paladins of Slaughter, and Sorcerers.
Races: Any race of wanton evil might be accepted, but some of the typical examples are Goblins, Gnolls, Minotaurs, Orcs, and some Giants.
Quote: “The Rakdos know little of technology, but they definitely know how to push buttons.”
Golgari
The natural order, the cycle of death and rebirth, and the sanctity of death. These are all the things the Golgari wish to overcome. They are necromancers and recyclers beyond compare, rising and re-rising as necromantic abominations.
Alignment: Neutral Evil. Individually, the Golgari are all over the place, running from True Neutral to Lawful Evil. Colors are Black and Green. Their symbol is a garden encasing a skull, or an insect skull.
Leadership: The Sisters of Stone Death, Ludmilla, Lexya and Lydya, an ancient trio of medusa prophets.
Classes: The Golgari explore a variety of options in their search for dark evolution. Some paths include Fetish Magi, Necromancers, Paragons, Rangers, Rune Masters, Wu-Jen, Spirit Shaman, and Thaumaturges.
Races: All races seek to overcome the bonds of death, but a few are more inclined to join a guild than others. Some examples include Elves, Trolls, Skeletons, Imaskari, and Animates.
Quote: “The Golgari expand, yes, but I refuse to call their tainted creations ‘growth.’”
Independent
Not every citizen living in Ravnica is a guild member. On the contrary, most of the populace, between 60 and 90 percent, has no guild representation at all. Most of these are the common, working people, but a few are freelancers who offer their services to any guild or individual who can pay for it.
Alignment: Independents may have any alignment, or any color.
Leadership: None. The Nephilim, the powerful guardian spirits of the city, are sometimes used as guides for the un-guilded.
Classes: Independents tend to do the work which the guilds don’t do; either out of temperament or out of inability to leave their posts. Examples of independent work include Bards, Fighters, Horizon Walkers, Nomads, Mercenaries, Scouts, and Specialists.
Races: Nearly any race may join the ranks of the guildless. There are no preferred races.
Quote: “Through the haze of battle I saw the glint of sun on golden mane, the sheen of glory clad in mail, and I dropped my sword and wept at the idiocy of war.”
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