Living in a world that is just one enormous, packed city requires a careful, cooperative kind of civility - whether it's the intricate protocols of law practiced by the Azorius, the shared struggle of the Gruul, or the fraternal bonds of the Boros.
The Rakdos has no use for civility. As a guild more or less entirely controlled by the id, it can, in some ways, serve as a pressure valve for city life. But it can also be a horrifying menace. The point is that the Rakdos provide a means for Ravnica's people to let go of their moral and ethical concerns and just blow off some steam and go crazy for a bit.
Functionally, the Cult of Rakdos is actually Ravnica's primary source of entertainment. But their dark carnivals take the idea of transgressive entertainment all the way into hedonistic, blood-soaked debauchery.
Alignment:
In most cases, the Cult of Rakdos and its members fall very easily into the Chaotic Evil alignment. Their macabre carnivals sometimes involve actual torture and death, and its members are not above performing assassinations and property destruction. It makes sense, given that their Parun (founding Guildmaster) is a giant demon lord.
Still, things are more nuanced with Magic's color wheel, and while Rakdos is definitely going to skew pretty strongly toward the Chaotic Evil end of things, they do perform an important service in keeping the populace entertained. An idealistic Rakdos member might simply be drawn to the artistic side of the guild.
In Magic, Rakdos is Red and Black. Red's rejection of order in favor of chaos and Black's rejection of morality make the Rakdos a profoundly transgressive guild. They are maybe the least predictable guild. They are also definitely the most kinky.
The Classes:
Barbarian:
Barbarians fit pretty well with these guys given their propensity for starting riots. Berserkers and evil-aligned Zealots (probably drawing their divine power from Rakdos himself) are great options.
Bard:
Given their role as entertainers, Bards of all stripes work quite well amongst the Rakdos. I might leave College of Glamours out, but even they could work. A knife-juggling College of Swords Bard would work quite well here.
Cleric:
The guild is a cult, after all. If your DM allows it, Death Clerics would be a good fit, but I also think that War, Trickery, and possibly Forge domains could all work.
Druid:
I could maybe see an emphasis on the feral nature of, say, the Circle of the Moon working here, but it's a stretch.
Fighter:
There appears to be a new Fighter type in the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica called the Brute. I could see this being more specifically for the Gruul Clans (coming in a later post,) but given Rakdos' use of armed thugs, this could works quite well. Indeed, I could see Champions and even Eldritch Knights that focus on offensive magic working with the Rakdos.
Monk:
Drunken Master could work quite well here, as could Shadow or Four Elements. As someone who can reliably start and prevail within a brawl, you could make it work, even if monastic training doesn't line up terribly well with the Rakdos ethos.
Paladin:
Even Conquest Paladins skew lawful, so I think the only Paladin type likely to work for Rakdos would be Oathbreakers.
Ranger:
I think Rakdos members are more likely to be getting chased by a Ranger than being one themselves. If you wanted to be some kind of wilderness-capable assassin, it might work. Alternatively, you could be some kind of animal handler for their circuses.
Rogue:
Assassins would play very nicely with the Rakdos, as would Swashbucklers. Rakdos members are often brought on as hired killers, and you might even make your role as an entertainer part of the ruse to make your target lower their guard.
Sorcerer:
Wild Magic, Shadow Sorcery, and possibly a Divine Soul with Rakdos as your evil-aligned divine source might all work pretty well here.
Warlock:
Rakdos would make an excellent fiendish patron. I could also maybe see a Hexblade patron working here as well, though really you don't get much more fiendish than red and black.
Wizards:
While most Rakdos are probably not going to spend the time to crack the spine of a book, a number of wizardly schools might serve pretty well. Evocation for explosions, Illusion for literal stage magic, perhaps the more direct bodily harm aspects of Necromancy, and certainly the potential for chaos that you get through Conjuration magic all work decently here.
The Cult Puts on a Hell of a Show:
Rakdos might be the ideal guild if you really just want to play a murder-hobo. But I think that there's opportunity for some really interesting ideas when you consider the Rakdos role as entertainers.
Naturally, with all of its torture and murder, ending shows by having performers explode in showers of gore (and sometimes doing the same to the audience,) it might be hard to think of the Rakdos as being anything other than just totally insane and evil.
And to a large extent, that's probably the right read.
But one could imagine (and I suspect that the book will elaborate on this) that such displays are not the typical way one interacts with the guild. Presumably most Rakdos performances merely play at the idea of being dangerous. And the Rakdos are free to express themselves in ways that other guilds would never allow.
So yes, there is a narrow sliver even in the Rakdos for you to play a good character. You might be drawn to the magical and transgressive world that they create, flaunting convention and giving people an opportunity to indulge in their desires and maybe work through their issues through cathartic art and expression.
But most of the time it's going to be a horror-show.
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