Nine Organizations for Wizards (CWH)

__TOC__
Wizards are most comfortable in the company of their fellow practitioners, especially those with whom they share common interests, and often form their own associations and organizations. A few such groups are listed below. The DM is encouraged to design variations of these groups; for instance, a Necromancy Syndicate, a variation of the Diviners Syndicate, might exist in a particular DM's campaign world.
Each organization's description includes the following information:
Description: The purpose of the group.
Membership: The types of wizards belonging to the group.
New Member Requirements: Conditions a prospective member is expected to meet in order to join the group. Usually, this consists of paying an entrance fee or being sponsored by a current member.
Annual Dues: The fee that a member must pay each year to remain an active member.
Benefits: The advantages of being a member.
==The Brotherhood of Alchemy==
Description: This group consists of wizards whose primary interest is alchemical research, particularly the research of new magical potions. The group compiles and exchanges information about their current projects, with the implicit understanding that such information will not be shared with outsiders. Violation of this rule results in immediate expulsion from the Brotherhood.
Membership: The bulk of the members are transmuters, though a few enchanters and invokers are also included.
New Member Requirements: New members must pay an entrance fee of 100 gp and show evidence of original magical item research within the last year.
Annual Dues: 20 gp
Benefits: The Brotherhood can help its members obtain hard-to-find research supplies and laboratory equipment. They can also offer assistance to members who have reached a dead end in their research.
==Legal Defense Front==
Description: This group provides legal defense to wizards unjustly accused of criminal activity. Their services include legal representation, financial support, and personal counseling.
Membership: Any wizard of lawful good alignment can be a member.
New Member Requirements: A new member must be sponsored by a current member and must pay an entrance fee of 200 gp. The entrance fee may be waived on a majority vote.
Annual Dues: 50 gp
Benefits: If a member is accused of a crime, the Front will provide 1,000 gp or more toward his defense. The Front can also provide expert witnesses and legal representation if necessary. Their counseling service advises members about the acceptance of magic-users in various cities and cultures, giving special attention to places where magic-users are routinely persecuted and imprisoned for minor infractions of the law.
==The Silver Swan Club==
Description: Primarily a social organization for unmarried wizards, the Silver Swan Club holds regular dances, picnics, and other social events for its members. The highlight of the year is the annual Harvest Moon Festival, when the club stages an all-night party in a rented castle.
Membership: All wizards are welcome, but the membership comprises mainly young, low-level wizards.
New Member Requirements: A new member pays an entrance fee of 20 gp.
Annual Dues: 5 gp
Benefits: The club provides its members with excellent opportunities to meet potential friends and mates.
==Wizards' Liberation Society==
Description: This organization seeks to further the interests of wizards through political pressure on local and national governments. Their methods include negotiation, demonstrations, and one-on-one lobbying. Some factions are rumored to use violence to underscore their messages.
Membership: All wizards are eligible.
New Member Requirements: A new member must be sponsored by a current member and pay an entrance fee of 50 gp. The fee is waived if the prospective member has exploitable political connections (for instance, if he is related to a government official).
Annual Dues: 10 gp
Benefits: The Society can exert considerable influence on governments to adopt laws beneficial to wizards. The Society can also put its members in contact with government officials and assist them in working with government bureaucracies.
==Foes of the Wand==
Description: This is an organization of purists who adamantly oppose the use of magical wands or any other magical devices. Such devices are perceived to be a threat to the craft of magic; only the use of spells is acceptable to the Foes of the Wand. If a member is ever caught using a magical item, he is immediately expelled.
Membership: All wizards are eligible, but the membership is primarily composed of older mages of higher levels.
New Member Requirements: The only requirement for a prospective member is the donation of a magical item to the Foes. The Foes then destroy the item in a solemn ceremony, after which the prospective member vows never to use a magical item again.
Annual Dues: None
Benefits: Once per year, each member can exchange a magical item for a spell of comparable power. The magical item is destroyed, then the Foes allow the member to copy one spell (of their choice, not the member's) from their spell books.
==Diviners Syndicate==
Description: More of a business than a fraternal organization, the Diviners Syndicate sells advice, predictions, and omen interpretations to members of the aristocracy. Their fees are expensive, but because the syndicate pools the talents of a sizeable number of skilled wizards, their advice and predictions are extremely accurate.
Membership: Only diviners of eighth lever or higher are eligible.
New Member Requirements: The prospective member must pay an entrance fee of 500 gp and bring at least one new client to the syndicate.
Annual Dues: There are no annual dues. However, to remain in good standing, a member must spend a minimum of eight weeks per year working exclusively for the syndicate.
Benefits: Members in good standing split the syndicate's profits at the end of the year. A member's annual share is usually 5,000-30,000 (1d6 x 5,000) gp.
==Center for Monster Control==
Description: This organization compiles information about magical monsters and makes this information available to its members at no charge.
Membership: All wizards who have first-hand knowledge of magical monsters are eligible.
New Member Requirements: A new member must pay an entrance fee of 10 gp. Additionally, the prospective member must have first-hand knowledge of a magical monster or a monster wielding magical powers (such knowledge is usually acquired as a result of a battle). The membership votes on whether the prospective member's knowledge is of sufficient usefulness to the organization to allow him membership.
Annual Dues: None if the member attends all bi-monthly meetings. The member may be assessed a fine if too many meetings are missed without good reason.
Benefits: The organization supplies information to its members about magical monsters, including their abilities, their weaknesses, and suggested strategies for defeating or avoiding them.
==League of Extraplanar Travelers==
Description: Similar to the Center for Monster Control, this organization compiles information about alternate planes of existence and makes this information available to its members at no charge.
Membership: All wizards who have visited one or more alternate planes of existence are eligible.       
New Member Requirements: A new member must pay an entrance fee of 20 gp. Additionally, the prospective member must have proof of a visit to at least one alternate plane of existence. The membership votes on whether the prospective member's knowledge of that plane is of sufficient usefulness to the organization to allow him membership.
Annual Dues: None if the member attends all bi-monthly meetings. A fine may be assessed if a member misses too many meetings without good reason.
Benefits: The organization supplies information to its members about the alternate planes, including inhabitants, physical laws, and how spell casting is affected (the DM should consult Chapter 6 for details about magic in other planes—the league has all of this information available to its members).
==Fellowship of Sages==
Description: This is an organization of sages who are expert in a wide variety of subjects. The sages charge for their advice, giving a percentage of their fees to the Fellowship for its upkeep.
Membership: All types of wizards belong to the fellowship, each with one or more areas of expertise.
New Member Requirements: A prospective member must pay an entrance fee of 100 gp, plus he must have a nonweapon proficiency in one or more of the fields of study listed on Table 61 of the Dungeon Master's Guide. If the wizard is a recognized authority in one of the fields of study not available as a nonweapon proficiency in the DM's campaign, he can still be admitted to the fellowship with the DM's permission.
Annual Dues: None. However, each member must provide 15 percent of the fees he charges for his sage advice to the fellowship.
Benefits: As long as a member spends a minimum of eight weeks per year working exclusively for the syndicate, he has access to the advice of the other members at no charge. If he fails to spend the minimum of eight weeks per year, he must pay their normal fees. Advice is given according to the rules for sages on pages 106-107 of the DMG. However, the chances listed on Table 61 (page 107 of the DMG ) of finding a sage in the fellowship who is expert in a given field are doubled; for instance, there is a 20 percent chance of finding an expert in alchemy. When using the Sage Modifiers table (Table 62 of the DMG ), assume that a fellowship sage always has access to a complete library.