So, the basic gist of my setting is that badass people go dungeon diving for old magical artifacts, D&D style, as an actual job: Their society is sorta reliant on this practice to advance since a lot of knowledge has been lost and magical technology is primarily reverse-engineered. For plot related reasons I need there to be some kind of organization that administers official contracts for these expeditions and enforces certain restrictions on how they may be carried out. For example, you need a party of at least three people to explore a dungeon of a certain class. You may also need a license to be eligible for a contract, haven't quite decided. But, you know, bureaucratic stuff like that. Essentially it's an adventurer's guild where adventurers can go to pick up quests. I don't want to actually use that term, though, since "adventurer's guild" sounds a bit too video game-ish, but I'm not sure what else to call it. (For that matter, I'm not even sure they operate as an actual guild, strictly speaking, and I don't want to be one of those fantasy writers who use the term wrong just because it sounds cool.) While I'm asking, I could probably use a more professional-sounding word for "adventurer", since they don't necessarily do it for the thrill or whatever. I mean, some of them do, but it's still a job. For that matter, I'm also open to suggestions on how exactly this organization should operate, as I haven't yet quite figured that out beyond what I've already mentioned. ...As you may be able to tell, I'm not very good at this part of the writing process. I'm generally more about characters and personal conflicts and feelings and stuff. Really, any suggestions are welcome.
It kind of depends on the setting of your world. For instance guild (according to wikipedia) is primarily a medieval term, which could fit what your going for. You could go for something that sounds more modern like Archaeological Society. (Since their essentially digging up artifacts, they'd be archaeologists) Depending on if you have a unique term to refer to these magical artifacts you could include that in the name, for example Magifacts (bad example, but you understand). Same if you have a unique name for the ones who find them, like Finders (yeah I'm not the best at naming things). So it could be the Magifact Finders, or the Finders Guild, or Magifact Society, or The Magifact Finders of Placetopia Society. Or something like that, more or less.
Seek & Find Inc. Perloinment Posse Retrievers Repatriation Nation Pick-N-Thieves Yoinkers The Grab & Snatch Batch (No, no. Defo not that one!)
I know you're trying not to be Dungeons & Dragons stereotyping but you can look at how they organize their thieves guilds and assassins guilds in their source books. Google - you should find some resources. For example: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Thieves%27_guild
I really like the idea for this plot. Do these adventurer's have titles? That'd be an easy way to form an organization around them. Are they searching for specific technology that the organization can establish an identity under, or is the point 'adventure'? What does the organization SEE the adventurer's as: or rather, what could they call the organization to imbue those within it with a sense of identity and purpose? When people say "Oh, I'm part of so-and-so", it's almost a status symbol. So whatever the thing is called, it should probably evoke the image that those who go and use it are big fish, I imagine. Relic Hunters has a cool ring to it, I think. 'Seekers' is kind of cool. I really like @Wreybies 'retriever' idea--it's kind of a neutral word but you could probably put a REALLY cool spin on it. ...arcanologists? Delvers...
Backdoor Explorers Ruins Cleanup Squad Come, See and Snatch Co. Search Force Crying Archaeologists Ruining The Ruins (insert joke about kleptomaniacal practices of main characters in RPGs) On a more serious note: Explorers' Union* Speculations Squad(ron)* Search and Retrieval *(Fun fact: Roman Army had special units tasked with exploration, reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. These were called Speculatores and Exploratores; IIRC, former were more of a spies, while latter were more of what you think of when you say "scouts" or "rangers").
I think "union" might be even more misleading than "guild," honestly. It's hard to explain. The setting is sorta medieval, in the sense that there are people wearing armor and using swords and so on. But there's also a ton of magitech stuff, like airships and magic ray-guns and smartphone analogues. People are generally much more knowledgeable then we were in medieval times, for instance their understanding of medicine and astronomy is pretty much on par with ours today. See, I don't really want to mimic a historical setting but rather try to imagine how society in this world has developed using magic as their version of technology. Oh, and because of the way I chose to handle the language, there are no made-up words - with the exception of names, everything is strictly referred to by a word or term in the language the book is written in. Archeologist sorta gives the wrong impression, though, since archeology is an academical field. Plus they probably have actual archeologists, like the kind who teach at universities when they aren't fighting Nazis digging up old stuff. There may be some overlap there, but I still think they are distinct from the adventurers. The closest thing would be the Breaker class adventurers, who are roughly equivalent to D&D rogues, since part of their job is understanding old texts and knowing their way around ancient mechanisms. Heh, catchy. But actually, magical tools, weapons etc are called catalysts, and tend to be the most common type of artifact. Then there's more unusual stuff like golems (basically robots) and gestalts. (Magical AI.) But I think "artifact" is probably going to be the catch-all term, since I don't see a a point in using a different word for no reason. By the way, the value is not necessarily in the items themselves. Rather, they are inscribed with this special runic "code" that allows them to produce different kinds of magical effect. It's by studying that code they can produce new magical items. Theoretically, magic can do anything as long as you have the right code for what you want to achieve. Subsequently, previously undiscovered codes or even unusual variations of known ones are very valuable. Well, I wouldn't go with "Finders", but that does kinda match the style I've been working with so far. Society doesn't sound right either, I'm afraid. It makes them sound like a club or private organization. Honestly, I think they're probably more of a government arm or civic agency, since part of their purpose is keep tabs on artifacts so nobody starts blowing up buildings or whatever. That's it! ...Yeah, you're probably right. Heh. You know, I had serious trouble figuring out what to call the "rogue" type adventurers since what they do is legitimate work and not actually illegal in any way. Turns out there is basically no word to describe "thief-type person who isn't a criminal." Had a long discussion about it on a different forum and we came to the conclusion that they are probably closer to Indiana Jones than anything. I ended up calling them Breakers, because they're good at, um, breaking into stuff? Like vaults and treasure chests? ...Look, I did my best, okay? Plus, it matches the rest of the class designations. See, that's what I was going on about before, though: A guild is something pretty specific. They were basically something like a cross between trade unions and cartels. By law, you weren't allowed to practice your trade or craft within a city if you weren't a member of the corresponding guild. A "thieves guild" sorta makes no sense, except as sort of an ironic nickname, since they presumably don't pay taxes and so on. (Funny enough, Terry Pratchett actually got it the most right since the Discworld thieves guild does pay taxes.) In practice, a thieves guild would be an actual organized crime syndicate like the Mafia, not an actual guild. Anyway, I don't quite feel right calling it a guild unless it's actually organized as a guild, or I genuinely can't find a better word.
No problem. My main suggestion was the term "treasure hunter," though. That is the real world term, after all.
Codebreaker's Association Inscription Retrieval Service (IRS knows no bounds and will hunt you in fictional worlds.) Coder's Companionship Coder's Lodge/Society Scripture Lodge/Society Runic Lodge/Society/Order Scribal Lodge/Society/Order Transcriber Service/Lodge/Society/Order The Scribal Sodality Clerks' Service Basically, can you combine something that has to do with copying texts with other words for an association?
Well, classes, I guess. There are Fighters, Casters and Breakers. (Warriors, mages and rogues, more or less.) Those three constitute the basic minimum lineup of a "serious" party. Preferably they should also have a Healer. (Cleric, but not quite. More like a healing-specialized mage.) Then there's probably other specialized classes like Hunters, Defenders and whatever else I can come up with. Fighters are the muscle and the best at physical violence, Casters fight at range and provide general magical support, and Breakers are in charge of scouting, navigating dungeons, dealing with traps, etc, and Healers keep everyone alive. This isn't really a strict system, though. There's no reason a Caster can't also be good with a sword, for example, and there can be far less conventional formations than the standard one. My main characters initially form a party with a Fighter, Caster and Breaker. Then the caster, my main heroine, changes to Fighter because she sucks at magic. Then they find another Fighter who insists on joining them. I think eventually they end up with three Fighters, one Breaker, one Fighter/Defender dual class and two Casters. And all along they complain they can't find a Healer to join them. I think I went over most of this in my previous reply. Basically, they want to find any rare, unusual or desirable magical technology so it can be studied. Adventurers are typically given the option of keeping or selling less interesting items after a mandatory evaluation. Particularly powerful/dangerous artifacts or ones of cultural, historical or military significance are de facto confiscated but the adventurers are still compensated. While many adventurers do enjoy the thrill, at the end of the day it's a job you do to pay the bills. Well, the way I picture it, the adventurer parties are basically freelance groups who compete for contracts and don't have much in the way of oversight in the field. They do have to go through the organization if they want to trade their artifacts in for money, however. Of course, some rogue groups don't bother and engage in black market trades instead. A particularly dangerous one simply hoards artifacts for themselves in order to grow more powerful. Highly accomplished parties gain a lot of prestige and are kinda-sorta treated as rock star bands. Sort of a running gag I've planned is that the main character party is very elite right from the start, basically being a dream team of exceptional "hero unit" type individuals, but they have a reputation as troublemakers due to their tendency to cause a lot of destruction wherever they go and despite being very successful they have rather bad luck when it comes to making a profit. ...I really don't know if any of this information is any help, I'm sorta just typing out all my worldbuilding at this point. Man, I need to sleep.
If they actually go into dungeons for their stuff, how about something like "The Dungeon Delvers' Society".
