Morgrave Outreach Association

Being a member of the Morgrave Outreach Association is, in many ways, its own reward. That is, you do not get anything in particular from your membership other than the chance to participate in expeditions that have a high likelihood of being exciting and profitable. What you make of those opportunities is up to you. At the university’s expense, the association provides you with equipment, information, and other necessities for the successful completion of each assignment. Beyond that, though, you are left very much to your own devices.

There are as many reasons to join the Morgrave Outreach Association as there are reasons to live the life of an adventurer. Members of the organization have proven their capability under fire and have a broad range of experience in the wilder parts of the world. They are more likely to trust their instincts than the book knowledge of academics, and that’s exactly the expertise that the Morgrave expeditions look for (even if faculty members sometimes rankle at being told what to do by “undereducated, grime-encrusted thugs with no sense of history or the importance of the university’s work”).

A member will have very little contact with the association except to pick up new assignments and report the results of completed ones. The association exists as a kind of broker, allowing academic groups to meet individuals with practical expertise. It has no particular agenda, nor any interest in helping its members do anything other than make a steady living. Members of the association are competent and trustworthy, and an assignment taken from the association is likely to be straightforward and unencumbered by political machinations or hidden dangers (other than those found in the wild).

Advancement: In most instances, the association does not actively recruit new members. Its reputation for providing high-paying, relatively low-risk assignments is well known among the adventuring community (as is Morgrave University’s reputation for allowing members of its expeditions to pocket the occasional valuable item). Although the association is always willing to accept new members, the fact is that it has enough current members to fill most available assignments. The only time this might not be the case is if an expedition shows up unexpectedly at one of the smaller guildhalls. The local guildmaster might then actively recruit the most competent, reliable help currently available in the area.

Once you have paid your membership dues, what you get out of the Morgrave Outreach Association is up to you. Expeditions leave from most guildhalls at least once a month (and several times per week at the larger sites such as Stormreach). Assignments can vary in length from a week or two (if the group is simply doing a survey of a historic site) to several months (for an extended excavation or renovation of a large site). Occasionally, extended assignments might last for a year or more. These journeys focus on exploration, mapping, or the study of a particular culture.

The association encourages members to be selective when choosing assignments. Once an expedition is under way, an association member is expected to see it through to completion no matter what circumstances might arise. It is unacceptable to abandon faculty and students for any reason, so choosing a mission and group that you will find palatable is important.

Because all assignments are performed for teams from Morgrave University, faculty and students returning to Sharn will carry word of how easy or difficult an association member is to work with. After completing a few successful missions, a member (or group of members) might develop a reputation among the university staff. This could result in future expeditions specifically requesting to work with particular members of the association.

Missions: Assignments usually fall into one of three categories—exploration, cultivation, or communication. Exploration assignments are those in which an academic group is visiting a site for the first time or traveling through uncharted territory to identify sites suitable for future exploration. Cultivation missions involve taking a team of faculty and students to thoroughly examine a site and collect interesting specimens, artifacts, and art objects. This is the most common type of assignment, and the most lucrative as well. A mission of communication is one in which the university team meets with representatives of a foreign culture. This might mean living with a remote tribe, or could involve negotiating with foreign governments or warlords for the right to send future expeditions into their territories.

The Morgrave Outreach Association is a convenient way to give player characters access to a wide range of adventures and locations. Practically any adventure can be framed as part of a university-sponsored expedition, and the PCs will always know where to go when they find themselves with idle time. The promise of pay over and above a share of any treasure found gives the PCs incentive to take part in adventures they might otherwise have no reason to accept. The association also provides a way to introduce new PCs and supporting characters so that existing PCs have a legitimate reason to accept and trust them.

Organization: The Morgrave Outreach Association is, at best, a loose affiliation. Members do not have any need to gather in great numbers, nor are they expected to make any special commitment to the group. They pay their dues and take assignments whenever it suits their taste. The PCs can function as a whole unit, or can team up with other association members when an assignment requires a specific skill set they do not possess.

The association is run from the main guildhall in Sharn’s University District. Assignments are handed out from there or sent to regional guildhalls to be filled locally. Many members never visit the main guildhall, taking assignments only through their local branch. More widely traveled members, however, might visit dozens of different guildhalls—stopping in whenever their wanderings bring them to a town that houses one, performing an assignment or two, then moving on to their next destination.

NPC Reactions

The general populace knows very little about the Morgrave Outreach Association, and most people simply assume that it has something to do with Morgrave University. Scholars from other universities and institutions likely treat association members with the same disdain they feel for Morgrave itself. Adventurers might either be interested in finding out how to become members, or show contempt for anyone who takes on such mercenary work.

The association does not have any enemies per se, but various scholarly groups hold it in very poor regard. If the university representatives at a local site are seen to be removing, defacing, or trespassing on property held in high regard by the local populace, they and their associates could become targets of derision, ostracism, or even violence.

Guildhalls are usually two- or three-story buildings that resemble inns or private residences. They have a small staff (sometimes consisting solely of the hall’s master) and are not long on comfort. They do, however, provide access to the bare essentials. Association members, university faculty, and their guests can gather comfortably in the common room. Members can stay in the upstairs rooms for one or two days at a time for no fee (extended stays cost the same as renting a room at an inn). The hall is decorated with paintings and trophies from association expeditions.

Every guildhall has maps of the local region, descriptions of known dangers, basic medical supplies, and a supply of masterwork weapons. A well-stocked guildhall might have such amenities as a kitchen and cook, ale, wine, and other spirits, a healer, and local guides. Most guildhalls have connections to local smiths, healers, and merchants who provide association members with discounted services.

An association guildhall can make a good base of operations for a group of PCs. They will always be welcome, they always have a source of work, and they can meet trustworthy NPCs who will carry news of other adventures and events in the world. Indeed, if the PCs decide to settle in a specifi c town or region, they might be able to become the masters of the local guildhall, or open a new hall of their own.