The Guild Gold Edition

The Guild Gold Edition

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The Tale of the Schmiedinger Dynasty – A Guide for Smiths
By marco.paschinger
This is a Guide for The Guild. It is focused for Smith and tries to help in developing your family for three generations.
   
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Introduction
After I heard, that The Guild 3 will be produced, I started to play this Game again. I did not play this game in years, so I thought; well let us look up some Guides, but unfortunately, I could not find any! Therefore, I started to think back, how I did thinks ten years ago and systematically I figured out my old tricks.
Now I want to share some with you :)
Most people start with Thief because it is the easiest one. So I will make one for Smiths but it should work with other craftsman, like Carpenter or Perfumer.

This is a Guide for very easy up to normal, if you are looking for Help beyond that level, I am sorry I have to disappoint you.

BTW: My native language is German, therefore please excuse mistakes in my spelling and I might misspell some of the Items, but I think you will get the general gist of what I meant.
General Overview
I assume most of the people reading this have a least played the Thief-Career. For everyone else: Stay here for a short while, because I will talk about Business!

The most important thing here is that you buy, Resources, produce Goods and sell them on the Market. >>No ♥♥♥♥ Sherlock!<< I hear you say. Yes it sounds very trivial, but understanding how the Market works is the most important part of this Game.

If you look on the Market you will see two prices for every product, the upper one is the price you PAY and the lower one is the price you SELL, and generally speaking you will want to SELL on a HIGH price and PAY at a LOW price. And the market is acting cyclic, so there keep an eye on what you are producing and what you need to buy! I will point out at each section what I consider is a good price, so it will help you get started.

Remember, always repair your foundry and your house, because it lowers the productivity and it costs too much if you wait for too long.
1. It’s a long way…
May I introduce you to Gernot Schmiedinger the First, born to a Craftsman and his wife a Merchant in a small village in good old Germany. He had an excellent upbringing and therefore had 3 Stars in Handicraft and Negotiation. In 1399 he inherited the foundry of his Uncle in a big city and so he move there.

The first thing you want to do, is hire another assistant and sent your cart for the market to buy Iron and bring it back to your forge. Best buy IRON under 25 and SILVER under 35 Coins. In the meantime you produce with your two assistants SILVER RINGS (sell >200) until you have no silver anymore. Set the production to FITTING’s and RAPIER’s (sell >400). I recommend waiting until the prices are at an acceptable level, before selling them. Sometimes it means that you have to wait a year or two, so keep an EYE on your BUDGET.

Gernot Schmiedinger made a small Profit in his first year and so he asked himself: >>What should I do with this money? And what should I do with my free time?<<

A question you also will come across. Well I recommend not investing too much in your House – I tend to sell it, so it is a WASTE of MONEY in my eyes, but I do upgrade the stuff which brings me AP. Apropos AP try to get your hand on a WALKING STICK or an ENDURANCE POTION every now and then, to speed up your learning. Invest in Negotiation and Handicraft.
But back to the first Question: >>What should I do with this money?<< Easy, invest in your company, upgrade your CAPACITY of your STORAGE first and foremost! You never can have enough capacity. After that you can invest in everything else, but DON’T FORGET you have to WATCH your BUDGET and you NEVER can have ENOUGH RESOURCES.
In addition, when you have about 6000 Coins buy a horse cart and send it to the MINE to pick up IRON and SILVER there.

The next year the City approached him and asked, if he would like to became a citizen. Gernot Schmiedinger had to think hard about this issue, because Citizenship did not come free. On the other hand, it made it possible to achieve ranks and glory in the city administration and some of the other Newcomers already achieved Citizenship…

If some of your competitors get CITIZENSHIP earlier, do not lose heart! We will turn the tables soon…
Meanwhile, if you can afford the citizenship, take it and try to achieve the lower rank of the CITY ADMINISTRATION. I personally, do not put too much effort in to politics in the first generation of my family. Nevertheless, a seat in it helps you to PAY the BILLS.

A few years have passed and the youngling Gernot Schmiedinger became a man and with that, he not only mastered his craft but also along came mature needs. When he wandered to the market, he sometimes saw a pretty young woman and he wondered how her Name was and what she did for a living. Nevertheless, to find out he had to figure out, when was the best time to approach her and how?

Before we move on to the Facts of Life, let us talk about the major upgrade. It cost about 4000 Coins, I think, so you had better have 6000 to 7000 coins ready, when you start your upgrade to the SMITHY. There are TWO NEW PRODUCTS: the SILVER CHAIN (sell >700) and the LONG SWORD (sell >1000). I tend to stay with the Silver Chain first, because it does not need any additional goods. The new goods you need for the Long Sword are: POLISH (buy <100) and OAK BOARD (buy <50) Now you also can add a new assistant and upgrade the old ones to journeyman blacksmiths if possible. Their SALARY INCREASES, but so does also the PRODUCTIVITY. Excess money invest in your company!
Now to the Birds and the Bees and everything else. I do not like the Black-Widow-Approach in the first generation, because it can be a risky gamble. The Black-Widow-Approach means you are marring an older Woman who is on the VERGE of DEATH to inherit her wealth. However, if you have the opportunity and are risky enough, GO FOR IT! I marry after the age of 20, but before the age of 25, so that I can be secure to have an educated heir.

Alas! Happy news and sad tragedies often come along. Not only did Gernot Schmiedinger get married and had a son, Gernot II. Schmiedinger, but an old friend of his home village came to the big city to visit him. Nevertheless, he was the bearer of sad news; his parents died a short while ago and left him a small fortune. While the old friends sat together and talked about old times, Gernot’s friend noted, that he had rarely seen such well-crafted goods as Gernot’s. That did make Gernot think…

Primarily, GET YOUR MASTERSDEGREE! I know I sound like your parents, but it is important because of two things: 1) You well get an extra AP every round and 2) you can upgrade to the GOLDSMITH and with that come additional products. In this case the GOLD CHAIN (sell >1000) and METAPHYSICAL BELT (sell >1300). Upgrade your Goldsmith completely and hire additional worker, but still WATCH YOUR BUDGET!
If you have excess money, you can upgrade your house – you should be a PATRICIAN by this point.
Now our next step is to step into the WORLD of INTERNATIONAL SALES. We are going to pick the MERCHANT as our next career. When you have built your STORAGE SHED, you can send out carts – horse carts preferably – into the world, where you can SELL the products of your Goldsmith at a HIGHER PRICE than on your local market. Now we are really going to start making money…

Gernot did make quite an amount of money on his trip to another city, but the city’s administrators will not accept foreign money to pay Gernot’s taxes. So he had to come to a Bank an change it here… 5% did that RAT of an Banker take and while he waited to get his coins changed, Gernot could see people coming in and out from the street to ask for Credit. That bloodsucking Villain of a Banker takes 15% interest rates! And for what? For sitting around and waiting!
Alas, now that he got his coins Gernot left for the office of the tax collectors and while he strolled around the market he spied some toy’s for his boy.


Children love to play, and in addition, they are learning something from it. So, if your Budget can afford it, buy your children some toys from time to time.
You do not need to master the MERCHANT career. We only need access to the other cities and for that is the lowest level of the merchant career enough. Therefore, we had better start another career and I would suggest the career of a BANKER. There are a few reasons for it. First, having a Bank early on really is a good thing. The Town will start to expand form 1410 onwards until 1470/80. In this era people need money and WE can give it to them, for a price. A HIGH PRICE! Second, we need to change the foreign money into money from our city. Why should we pay for it? Third, when we finish our banking career we get one additional AP and another one for our bank building.
What are the risks? Well, there are two major risks: First, look up the legally allowed highest interest rate and DO NOT charge more than that, it will cause you trouble otherwise. Second, do not go crazy over your banking. YOU ARE NOT Lehman Brothers and NO ONE will BAIL you OUT! Believe on this. To get my banking business started I invest NOT MORE than HALF of my money in the bank. If your bank runs out of money, you can reinvest if you want and if you can AFFORD it. But DO NOT reinvest more than 25% of your current money.
And things you have to do: Send out couriers to change foreign money with money from your own city.
What can you do if you have EXCESS MONEY at this point and do not want to reinvest into your bank? Well build another foundry, of course. The more you produce, the more you can sell.

Gernot Schmiedinger was tiered; he had a long and satisfactory life. He came from a small village to this big city to find his luck, and he did find it, his wife, his workers, his friends and his beloved son, who was abroad to study.
2. The Heir and the Expansion
He was too late to say his last goodbye to his father. While he was away studying, drinking and fooling around with women his father died. Now Gernot II. Schmiedinger has to take care of heritage and stop fooling around. If he had listened to his father, he would have known what to do now, but alas, his father is no more, so he has to take care of this mess. >> First, let us have a close look upon our enterprises. << Gernot II. thought.

Well, that is a jolly good idea this fellow has, because that is what we will do here first. I will not write another story – at least not that long – because at this point, there is going to be many variabilities and so I can only give you very general directions.

HOWEVER, DO NOT FORGET WHAT YOU LEARNT UNTIL NOW!

There are three basic options for you to take from this point, depending on what the circumstances are and to find out there are two basic questions: 1) Have you finished your current career/banking career? and 2) Have you trouble with thiefs and robbers?

Option A:
Have you finished your current career/banking career? -> No.
Go and finish your current career or your banking career. Finish what you start and come back later…

Option B:
Have you finished your current career/banking career? -> Yes.
Have you trouble with thieves and robbers? -> No.
What the…? Well… Aren’t you a lucky bastard? I have to say, it did happen to me once or twice and I do not know why, but strangely the Thief and Robber did not had a very good start. If that happens to you, call yourself lucky! :)
Nevertheless, what can you do now? Well first, I recommend taking up another career like the JOINER or the PERFUMER, because you can sell their products also to other cities with profit and so you can make more money. Which career you take is up to you, more or less, but be aware, that to many of the same product type is going to drop the prices for it. So look at your city closely. But apart from that you should know the basics by now.
You should also start saving up for the PALAZZO. I tend to go for this one, instead of the VILLA and sell my old house as soon as the PALAZZO is finished.
What should I do with EXCESS MONEY? Build new industries and upgrade those you already have. If you cannot do that, buy production buildings. If you cannot do any of those, hide it in the WINE CELLAR of your PALAZZO.

Option C:
Have you finished your current career/banking career? -> Yes
Have you trouble with thieves and robbers? -> Yes
That happens to me most of the time. I like starting as thief, it is a lot of fun, but being on the lower end of the food chain tends to get my nerves. So what can I do…? Hmm…? I’m not sure, but…? FIGHT BACK!
YES! That is the only answer anyone can accept. You have three options: the GUARDSMEN, the THIEVES and the ROBBERS. Which one you take is basically determined by the circumstances. I think the most realistic option at this point in the game is the robbers, because one of the three robber baron’s FORTRESSES is still available, while the space for THIEVES GUILD and GUARDSMEN HOUSES in the city might already be occupied. But there are three phases every one of them must go through.
a. Starting up – buying or building your base. After this is completed, hire all available assistants and train them. Thieves train STEALTH, Robbers and Guardsmen train COMBAT. Do not forget to train yourself in those traits, for achieving better results. My basic tactic is, half of my employees train and the other half is “ON DUTY”
b. UPGRADE your stronghold and repeat hiring, training and on duty.
c. REPEAT B.
It is simple, I know. But It will work. Once every Member of your raiding party is top notch in COMBAT you can start. Do not forget to equip your party with stronger weapons like Rapier or Long Sword – best made by yourself.
Be warned the BATTLE for MILITARY CONTROL over the CITY will take long and the second Generation head of the family will probably not do anything else in his Lifetime.

A stone after another was put together to a high wall. Gernot II. Schmiedinger was looking at the construction site of his new home. A grandiose Palazzo, equipped with everything, a Study, a Drawing Room, a Library, a Wine Cellar, a Back Room and a Music Room. The purpose of this room was nothing, his son, Gernot III. Schmiedinger, should know. Well not now. After years of battle Gernot II. did have his victory over the more shadier parts of the city and its society. There were still a few free thieves and robbers around, but that was nothing that could frighten him. Now that he had control over the lower part of the city, it was time that he aimed for the high politics. But that strange coughing of his…

Well that was the second part. In the third we will see the rise of a new Generation of Schmiedingers, now seizing the political power.
3. … to the top!
Gernot III. Schmiedinger got the best education anyone could buy for money. He was ready to achieve the highest political position possible. Something his Grandfather nor his Father could not achieve. But thanks to those two he now had everything it takes to rise to the top… to become SOUVEREIGN!

I recommend not being too much into politics when your economic situation is not strong enough – it will only cost you a lot of stress. However, when you have that economic strength, then use everything you have!

Gernot III. got his first position at the age of 21 as a Town servant, not the most prestigious position, but everyone has to star on a low level. This cheap Silver Ring and the Comb I comb my hair with impressed those fools, he thought. And the Town clerk was an old man, ready to die any day now and the council assistant is the husband of one of my employees, so he never will go against my wish to succeed the old man.
And his thought turned out to be true. Shortly after Gernot III. was elected into the Town Servants the old Town clerk died and Gernot III. took his position, despite that there were some older, wiser and better qualified candidates. A little more than a year after he got elected the Council Assistant got ill and had to resign.

At the age of 25 he got elected into the city council as Building Master. Most of the old folks here were once friends of his father and knew him since he was little, but there were also some people, who hated his family for its success, like the current Treasurer, who also happen to be the head of one of the major families in the city. Therefore, in his first year as Building Master Gernot III. faced to be excluded from the city council, but his father’s old friends did not let him fall. But they were old and so one after the other died and was replaced by the Treasure’s friends. To defend against another vicious attack, Gernot III. figured he should make use of his Palazzo, one of the most luxurious buildings in the city. So he began to hold great parties at his home and wore exquisite Silver Chains and had always a Walking Stick by his side. And slowly one by one, the Treasure’s friends became his friends and when the day came a new Judge had to be appointed, there was only one vote against Gernot III. becoming Judge. It was the Treasurer’s, but before Gernot III. could take out his revenge this coward fled and became Bishop.

They years did go by and by the age of 34 Gernot III. got elected as Mayor of the City. What Honour! But he has set his eyes on a higher goal, one far higher as being Mayor of this City. But while Mayor, why not try and be the best possible one? And indeed, the time Gernot III. served this city would once be called it’s “gilded age”.
End
Well I don’t want to spoil all the fun you can have, so I let it end here. I think with this Guide you can manage, to become a successful Dynasty-Founder yourself. I hope so. And I hope you didn’t find my story to annoying – I thought it might be helping to remember what to do. Anyway...

THANKS FOR READING!

Good Luck!
2 Comments
Kajatan Kabesch 31 May, 2018 @ 10:39am 
grandios
Lord_Anubis 22 Jun, 2017 @ 1:04pm 
One of my favorite ways to play the craftsman is to control resource production.
Cut off the supply to rivals and buy them out as they come up for sale.