A player’s crash course to:

Ravnica

A short intro for your players

Introduction: This is a handout to help your players to jumpstart

their way into Ravnica Lore and character creation. It contains a
short description of the city, a summary of the guilds, a short list
regarding races and classes, details about backgrounds and renown.
Each resource has references to Guild Masters’ Guide to Ravnica.

By Geo Mircean

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  Cult of Rakdos (pg. 77) - the entertainers, street
performers
Intro  Selesnya Conclave (pg. 84) - they’re all about the
harmonious union of nature and civilization
I wanted to pick up Ravnica as universe and give it a
 Simic Combine (pg. 91) - the experimental
shot but I felt overwhelmed by the amount of
biologists, the researchers
information I needed to know to get the feeling of the
world. This is why I have decided to create for my
players (and not only them) a shot of what Ravnica as Each guild has an insignia and two specific colors
a world entails, without getting too much into the that they usually wear and they look like in the
picture below. As you can see in the image below,
specifics.
the main colors are: black, white, blue, green, red
(the land colors from MAGIC the Gathering).
By reading this you should be able to jumpstart
without any fuss a new character in Ravnica. This way
you can spend more time with your players
developing the actual personalities.

All page references are to the book Guild Master’s

Guide to Ravnica.

The Guilds
One of the main flavors of this universe is the fact
that is ruled by the 10 guilds. They are all bound
together by a “contract” called “The Guild Pact”.
Each guild has a role in the city. You can choose to
be a member of one of these guilds. If you choose
a guild you will automatically get the background of
that guild (see more at backgrounds).

You can also go guildless. In this case you will build

your character as you normally would. You can
choose any background in this case (according to
what your DM allows).

Here’s a short list and description in a nutshell of the

guilds:

 Azorius Senate (pg. 32) - the governors, the The city

lawmakers of the city
 Boros Legion (pg. 38) - the military force, they The city itself is huge, there is no map that displays
enforce the law all of it. Most of its borders are known only to the
 House Dimir (pg. 45) - the messengers and the spy people that live on the fringes. When thinking about
network of the city this city keep in mind that the perspective should be
 Golgari Swarm (pg. 51) - take care of basic both horizontal and vertical. While it's a large and
sustenance and food and take care of the dead wide ranged place, the underground and the
skyscrapers give it also a vast vertical dimension.
 Gruul Clans (pg. 58) - the raiders and destroyers of
the city
The core of Ravnica is split up into ten districts. All
 Izzet League (pg. 64) - the scientists, the gadget guilds are active in all of the districts. All the guilds
inventors, the infrastructure builders have their headquarters in the 10th district.
 Orzhov Syndicate (pg. 71) - the church and the
bank and the mob (yes, all in one)

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The tenth district is a very vivid place. It is split up  Minotaurs
into 6 precincts. Each of them has different  Loxodons - elephant people
characteristics. In a nutshell:  Simic Hybrid – human / elf / vedalken
genetically enhanced with animal traits
1. Precinct One - precinct of the wealthy and  Vedalken - blue skinned, curious, inventive
powerful. Here you can find headquarters of the humanoids
Orzhov Syndicate and the Chambers of the
Guildpact.

2. Precinct Two - working class professionals live New subclasses

here. New Prahv building in here hosts the
Azorius Senate headquarters. This new universe brings up 2 new subclasses, one
for Clerics and one for Druids.
3. Precinct Three - called the Greenbelt, has
ample parks and gardens. This serves as the
main food source and livestock of the district. Cleric: Order Domain
The Selesnya Conclave has its headquarters
here. You are passionate about order and discipline. You
4. Precinct Four - a very hectic place. If you want must abide the law at all costs, not caring about
a fight this is the place to go. Headquarters of the others and anything around you. Procedure is you
Boros Legion and the Izzet League are here. middle name. You will follow hierarchies and those
There is also a rubble belt where you can find above you by the letter.
many Gruul Clans.
Usually such clerics can be found in the Azorius
5. Precinct Five - the place for studying. There are Senate or the Orzhov Syndicate.
many schools, universities, laboratories and
libraries. The Guildhall of the Simic Combine. The goodies you get are on page 25.
House Dimir agents abound here as well.

6. Precinct Six - the place for manufacturing, Druid: Circle of the spores
storage, shipping and merchants. There is an
entry way towards the Golgari Swarm Fungi, mold and spores are your best friends. Life
subterranean network. The Cult of Rakdos also and death are part of an endless beautiful cycle for
has a number of clubs and pain houses. you. Nothing ever begins or ends for you. It’s just a
process. You are not as appalled as your other
The detailed description of the precincts hand be druid brothers and sisters by undead though, the
found in Chapter 3 of Guild Master’s Guide to relationship is more complex than that.
Ravnica.
These druids are associated mainly with the Golgari
The races Swarm.

All the subclass fluffiness can be found on page 26.

Most races from the Player’s handbook are
unknown to Ravnica. But no worries, this universe
comes with some cool choices: Renown
 Human In order to advance in your guild, you will need to
 Elf earn some renown points. The more renown points
 High elf you get, you will become a more important person
 Wood elf in your guild. You start off at 1 point. Anything you
 Dark elf (called devkarin) do that furthers the interests of the guild will help
 Half-elf you climb up the ladder. This might be missions or
 Goblins they might be downtime tasks.
 Centaurs

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Why would I want to get renown? discuss with your DM who your contacts are going
to be.

The better known and seen are you in a guild, you

can gain access either to more information in the
guild or to more help from the guild. Also the guild How to create your first
will start taking care of some things like burial, legal
fees (in case you run into trouble), some will provide character?
you with shelter when you are in need.
In this universe I think you can go for three main
Each guild has its own hierarchy. Some have a approaches which I recommend. Since it’s a lot of
more elaborate one, others don’t. Each rank you get info to cover as a beginner in Ravnica, you might
in your guild will come with more benefits and want to go for a shortcut until you get used to the
responsibilities. For some positions you will need to setting.
apply, for others you can just get there by fulfilling
the number of points. Either way your DM will let 1. Pick a guild that is attractive (or at least make a
you know what’s what when you get there. shortlist of 2 max 3). If you choose a guild, it’s
quite easy to decide on a Class and a Race
afterwards. Some Classes go better than others
Backgrounds with guilds, you can find in the class description
usually what classes are present. Below is a table
Along all the available backgrounds, Ravnica of what you usually find in each guild:
features 10 new backgrounds, one for each guild.
They are very flavorful and can help you really
develop your character in relationship with a guild. Guild Classes
Also it will help create a place for you in that
particular guild. The list of backgrounds, with the Azorius League Bard (Lore),
meta stuff, is below: Cleric (Knowledge, Order),
Fighter (Battle Master, Cavalier,
Champion, Eldritch Knight),
Paladin (Crown, Vengeance),
Guild Proficiency
Wizard (Abjuration, Divination,
Enchantment)
Azorius Functionary Insight, Intimidation
Boros Legion Barbarian (Zealot),
Boros Legionnaire Athletics, Intimidation
Cleric (Forge, Life, Light, War),
Fighter (Battle Master, Cavalier,
Dimir Operative Deception, Stealth
Champion, Eldritch Knight),
Monk (Sun Soul, Kensei),
Golgari Agent Nature, Survival
Paladin (Crown, Devotion),
Ranger (Hunter),
Gruul Anarch Animal Handling, Athletics
Sorcerer (Divine Soul),
Warlock (Celestial),
Izzet Engineer Arcana, Investigation
Wizard (Evocation, War Magic)
Orzhov Representative Intimidation, Religion House Dimir Bard (Whispers),
Cleric (Trickery),
Rakdos Cultist Acrobatics, Performance Monk (Shadow),
Rogue (Arcane Trickster, Assassin,
Selesnya Initiate Athletics, Intimidation Inquisitive, Mastermind, Thief),
Sorcerer (Shadow),
Simic Scientist Arcana, Medicine Wizard (Divination, Enchantment,
Illusion)
Being part of a guild will give access to some
Golgari Swarm Cleric (Grave),
contacts in your guild and one outside of your guild.
Druid (Spores, Land),
If you choose to go guildless you will have to

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 Fighter (Champion), 2. Pick a class see to which guild it fits. In the book
Monk (Long Death), you will find several tables in which classes are
Ranger (Beast Master, Gloom broken down into subtypes and then they are
Stalker), matched to a guild. For example, a Trickery
Paladin (Oathbreaker), Domain Cleric will fit in very well at House Dimir,
Rogue (Assassin, Thief), but a Grave Domain would rather fit in at the
Warlock (Undying), Golgari Swarm. You can find classes by guild on
Wizard (Necromancy) page 25.
Gruul Clans Barbarian (almost all),
Cleric (Tempest), 3. Be a misfit. You just like a certain class and like a
Druid (Moon), certain guild. That doesn’t mean they can’t go
Fighter (Champion), together. You can work with your DM for a nice
Ranger (Beast Master, Hunter), story to explain why you are there.
Warlock (Great Old One),
Rogue (Scout)

Izzet League Cleric (Arcana, Knowledge),

Fighter (Eldritch Knight),
Sorcerer (Draconic, Storm, Wild),
Wizard (Conjuration, Evocation,
Transmutation)

Orzhov Syndicate Cleric (Order),

Fighter (Battle Master, Champion),
Paladin (Conquest),
Rogue (Assassin, Thief),
Wizard (Abjuration, Divination,
Enchantment, Necromancy)

Cult of Rakdos Barbarian (Berserker, Zealot),

Bard (Swords, Valor),
Fighter (Champion, Eldritch Knight),
Monk (Way of The Drunken Master),
Rogue (Swashbuckler, Thief),
Warlock (Fiend, Hexblade)

Selesnya Barbarian (Storm Herald),

Conclave Bard (Lore, Glamour),
Cleric (Life, Nature),
Druid (Dreams, Land, Shepherd),
Fighter (Champion, Arcane Archer,
Battle Master),
Monk (Open Hand),
Paladin (Redemption, Ancients,
Crown),
Ranger (Beast Master, Hunter),
Warlock (Archfey)

Simic Combine Druid (Land),

Fighter (Champion),
Monk (Elements - Air or Water, Open
Hand),
Wizard (Conjuration, Transmutation)

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