Thursday, October 18, 2018

Reveling in Decay with the Golgari Swarm - Class Options in Ravnica

Given that the entire plane of Ravnica is one massive city, there's only one real place to expand, and that is up. What this means is that there is a massive undercity that extends beneath it. Sewers and tunnels lead down into the depths of Ravnica, and the waste of the city - garbage, rubble, and the bodies of the dead - all wind up sinking down into this hidden realm. While the Dimir and Rakdos certainly have their presences in this Undercity, it is the Golgari Swarm who have made it their kingdom.

The Golgari believe strongly in the churn of life and death. The cycle is the core of their ethos, and in practice, that means that they are undergoing constant upheaval. Its leadership changes on a regular basis, and the Swarm actually embraces the usually-contradictory magics of life and necromancy with equal fervor.

Practically speaking, the Golgari are the waste management of the city, recycling everything that falls into their domains into food and other useful materials. Employing swarms of insects both large and small as well as zombies and ghouls, the Golgari also foresee the upheaval of Ravnica in general, and expect that their growing underground empire will one day take over the surface.

Alignment:

The Golgari fit quite well into a Neutral Evil or Chaotic Evil role, but certainly in their eyes they probably consider themselves to be True Neutral. Despite their dangerous ambitions, the Golgari perform an indispensable role for the city, and thus there might be some Golgari who feel drawn to the guild out of a sense of responsibility and even love for their fellow citizens.

On the other hand, do they serve the equivalent of Soylent Green to the city's population? Yes.

In Magic, the Golgari colors are Green and Black. Typically, Green represents life while Black represents death, but the Golgari view these as merely two sides of the same coin, and that dichotomy is something they strive to embody. Furthermore, Green can sometimes represent a sort of detached view of hierarchies and individuals. Black is a color of selfishness, but that allows the Golgari to go through constant reshuffling of who is in power. Notably, both colors are good at dealing with the dead and discarded, and the Golgari excel at that.

The Classes:

Barbarian:

I wouldn't say no to Golgari Barbarians, but I don't know that I'd say they're quite the right fit. Playing up the necromancy angle of the guild could help with a Ancestral Guardian Barbarian, but you might need to "re-skin" it slightly.

Bard:

College of Whispers could work here, given the Golgari's penchant for backstabbing, but they're probably not a terribly Bard-oriented guild.

Cleric:

The Golgari Swarm might actually be the one guild in which Life, Death, Grave, and Nature Clerics all make a lot of sense. Because they see Life and Death as part of the same cycle, there's no contradiction there. While Grave clerics are usually opposed to the undead, you could imagine that the Grave clerics are more focused on the recycling aspects of the guild while Death clerics work to raise the dead for their forces.

Druid:

In Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica, there will be a new Druid Circle that is specifically designed for the Golgari - the Circle of Spores, which gives the Druid the ability to raise zombies using fungal spores. This is obviously your best choice for a Druid circle, but if you're able to find a darker angle on the other existing ones, they could fit here.

Fighter:

While no fighter subclass jumps out to me as obviously Golgari in nature, none seems totally disqualified. Given the constant backstabbing that goes on in the Swarm, some of the powerful guild members would probably want some trusted bodyguards.

Monk:

Way of the Long Death and Way of Shadow are both pretty good options here, given both the Golgari's necromantic tendencies and its shadowy domain.

Paladin:

Oath of Conquest, with its emphasis on following whoever is strongest, is actually a really good fit here. A dark-themed Oath of Ancients could also work. Oathbreakers as well would fit quite well here.

Ranger:

Gloomstalkers make a ton of sense here, given the Undercity environment. I could also see Monster Slayers being useful given the things hiding under the city (many of which might be products of Golgari magic.)

Rogue:

Rogues of all stripes will probably work within the Golgari, except maybe Swashbucklers.

Sorcerer:

Shadow Sorcerers work pretty well here. I'd put them as my top pick.

Warlock:

Archfey and Undying (from Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide) are both good picks. The Golgari are known to have a fair number of powerful liches, which could serve as a patron for the later type.

Wizard:

Necromancy is probably the top one here - few guilds wield necromancy as much as the Golgari, and so I think this should be your first pick if you want a Golgari Wizard.

For the Swarm!

The Golgari have a symbiotic relationship with the rest of the city, but whether it's parasitic or mutually beneficial probably changes from day to day.

As a member of the Golgari, you might be counting the days until you rise up and take over the city, but you might also feel cynical about that ever happening, as the leadership changes within the Guild happen so frequently that you doubt that day will ever come.

You also might not be that malevolent, instead eager to do your duty and make sure that the city's poor are able to survive on the food your guild provides. Yes, they might be squeamish if they knew what (who) it was made from, but it's all just part of the natural cycle, isn't it?

Intrigue and in-fighting within the Golgari could be a very good story hook - the party could be allied with one faction in the guild against another one. And these conflicts could potentially spill out into the surface world. Having a big army of undead under the city is probably something that the citizens should keep an eye out for...

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