The Nightwatchmen

The Guild of Nightwatchmen is an organization that augments the forces of law and order during the hours of darkness. As darkness falls, the People's Constables tend to desert the streets, due to their general unpopularity among the common folk of the Free City, and without the assistance of this guild, the City Watch would be hard pressed to keep the peace.

While the Nightwatchmen, to a large extent, provide a public service, they are nevertheless privately funded. Private individuals seeking extra protection when venturing onto city streets after nightfall can hire their own personal bodyguards, complete with lanterns or torches, from the guild. Merchants with valuable consignments in warehouses, or individuals who fear for the security of their dwellings or business premises, can hire guildmembers for static security purposes. Finally, in some areas of the city, whole neighborhoods band together to hire the guild to patrol their streets and scare off those who might visit the area with dishonest intent.

The members of the Guild of Nightwatchmen are thus a common sight on the streets of the Free City after dark.

Guildmembers are easily recognized by their light blue tabards bearing the cudgel symbol of St. Cuthbert and their light blue hats with extravagant white feathers tucked into the band. While guildmembers traditionally carried cudgels in deference to their patron deity, these have now been abandoned in favor of more seemly and authoritative weapons. The Nightwatchman have a special license from the Directing Oligarchy to carry weapons openly on the city streets.

Typical Composition of Nightwatchrnen units

Escorts and Bodyguards: Largely dependent on the relative standing and importance of the escorted individual (and, of course, the price they pay for their protection), the smallest escort will consist of one ordinary guildmember and a torchbearer. Important personages may also be assigned an additional guildmember and a sergeant. Very important persons may be assigned a full patrol (see below).

Costs vary according to the risk (escorting someone with a coffer full of gems is obviously more hazardous than escort ing someone to the Grand Opera). Actual costs should be determined by the DM to fit the campaign. If the DM doesn't want the PCs, for whatever reason, to have protection, then the cost should be prohibitively expensive. The members of the Nightwatchmen are well paid for their labor (certainly much better than the City Watch) and do not come cheap!

Static Security: Dependent on the size of the establishment to be guarded, the smallest assigned unit will typically comprise of two guildmembers, a torch bearer, and a darkman, increasing to a full patrol for larger establishments.

Street Patrol: Streets are assigned a full patrol comprosed of five guildmembers, two torchbearers, a sergeant and a darkman. On occasion, junior priests from the Temple of St. Cuthbert will be assigned by their Patriarch for duties in the field.

Typical Nightwatchrnen Profiles

Guildmember or Torchbearer

AC 7 (studded leather beneath tabards MV 9; F1; hp 6; THACO 20; #AT 1; Dmg 2d4 (ranseur) or 1d6 (short sword Str 15, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12; AL LG or LN (rarely NG)

Torchbearers do not carry ranseurs, and are normally expected to avoid combat. This is obviously not always possible, and they are issued short swords for emergencies.

Sergeant

AC 4 (chain mail beneath tabard and shield MV 9; F3; hp 22; THAC0 18; #AT 1; Dmg 1d8 +l (long sword Str 16, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 14; AL LG or LN.

Darkman

AC 3 (chain mail beneath tabard and shield, plus Dex 15 MV 9; F2; hp 14; THAC0 19; #AT 1; Dmg 1d6 (short sword Str 15, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 11, Cha 10; AL LG or LN (rarely NG).

Darkmen are always demihumans (most commonly gnomes) with infravision for when the Nightwatchmen require extra eyes beyond the vision of their normal torches or lanterns.

The guild maintains stations in each of the city's quarters. Applications for the services of the guild should be made to the desk sergeant at the appropriate station. Stations are constantly manned by 1d6 guildmembers and 1 sergeant. Attacks against guild stations used to be a common event, but have eased off con siderably in recent years as the activities of the Thieves' Guild have changed in character.

Relations between the Guild of Nightwatchmen and the City Watch are always good. The Nightwatchmen's presence on the city streets makes the Watch's job easier. The guild technically has no powers of arrest, and will restrain suspects and wrongdoers either at the scene of the crime or at their stations until the Watch can arrive. The members of the guild are renowned for their honesty and integrity-there has never been a dishonest Nightwatchman-and the Watch will always trust.

The guild's reputation for honesty is due entirely to its selection procedure. All candidates for membership must be examined by the guild's council. This council is composed of the most senior Nightwatchmen in the city, and these highly respected gentlemen will question all prospective members very closely. During the interrogation, one of the priests employed by the guild will cast know alignment on the candidate. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how much the candidate impresses the council panel; the guild will only employ people of lawful good or lawful neutral alignments (although on very rare occasions when reinforcements are urgently required, neutral good applicants are acceptable).