History Main / AdventureGuild

* In ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', this is the place where sellswords get their bounties. Judging from how [[TheHero Kyril]] has wandered from place to place to sell his blade to those who needed it, many of these exist throughout Eostia, in contrast to the usual depiction of one single guild with a RandomPowerRanking in Japanese media (Kuroinu is a Japanese visual novel with an anime adaptation). Then again, mercenary work is stated to be a booming business in Eostia, so this makes sense.

This is an organization, and we use the term loosely, that enrolls adventurers and gives them access to jobs. Jobs generally range from "[[FetchQuest find my cat]]" to "destroy [[BonusBoss Omega Volcano Satan]]", and are posted by random locals who can't, [[HoldingOutForAHero apparently, do anything for themselves.]] It's very likely that jobs will be ranked by difficulty, with [[RandomPowerRanking precise but vague credentials]] required for more dangerous jobs.

[[quoteright:350:[[LightNovel/Overlord2012 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/adventurers_guild_4.png]]]]

* The world of ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' also has ones similar to those in ''Overlord''. The titular Goblin Slayer is infamous in the guild for only taking quests that involve killing goblins.
* High Level Familia such as Loki Familia operate as this in ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. In addition to slaying monsters in the titular dungeon they very frequently take on quests to retrieve drop items or rare materials from the dungeon, especially the lower levels, or act as escorts for members of the Familia more focused on crafting to gather the materials themselves. The Guild (which is not this, despite the name) can also issue quests directly, such as commanding Familia to participate in the defence of the city against would be invaders.

* These exist in the various cities of Re-Estize and other human kingdoms in ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'', both taking requests for various missions to fight against the monsters of the world as well as setting prices and overseeing the ranking system that governs individual adventurers. When Ainz becomes ruler of E-Rantel and the local branch of the Adventurer's Guild effectively falls under his rule, he makes clear his intention to steer adventurers away from glorified pest control and bodyguarding and return adventuring to its roots: namely, to explore unknown lands and rediscover lost knowledge; this earns him the support of the guildmaster and becomes a stepping stone towards establishing himself as a benevolent ruler.

* These exist in the various cities of Re-Estize and other human kingdoms in ''{{LightNovel/Overlord}}'', both taking requests for various missions to fight against the monsters of the world as well as setting prices and overseeing the ranking system that governs individual adventurers. When Ainz becomes ruler of E-Rantel and the local branch of the Adventurer's Guild effectively falls under his rule, he makes clear his intention to steer adventurers away from glorified pest control and bodyguarding and return adventuring to its roots: namely, to explore unknown lands and rediscover lost knowledge; this earns him the support of the guildmaster and becomes a stepping stone towards establishing himself as a benevolent ruler.
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'' has a CyberPunk example in the Hunter’s Office, working for OneNationUnderCopyright. They hire PrivateMilitaryContractors called hunters, who mainly exist to find LostTechnology relics from ancient ruins in a DungeonBasedEconomy of scavenging AfterTheEnd cities of NeglectfulPrecursors known as the Old World. Their FantasticRankSystem rates a hunter based on relics recovered (which they under-pay for), and overall usefulness to the Corporate Government. Rank is used to restrict access to guns and ammunition. For instance, bullets designed to breach DeflectorShields cost 5 million aurum each for a hunter under rank 50, but 500 aurum for one above, to keep them from being used against the government. They handle DistressCall signals, patrols to thin out monsters and secure trade routes, and the like, besides relics. Their offices serve as a TruceZone where picking a fight is picking a fight with the government, in the otherwise completely lawless wasteland. It should be noted that the 'competing companies' aspect doesn’t apply to them, it’s Hunter Gangs who compete get contracts from the Hunter’s Office.
* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': The Free Guild originally established out of the Kingdom of Ingracia (though technically it's beholden to no nation) functions likes this. In exchange for paying taxes to the various nations out of which its branches operate, they have a great deal of autonomy in how they run things and take various requests from the nations, smaller villages, or even individuals. They also have adventurer training, ranks, and tests to promote rising candidates. Notably, the guild is rather new innovation as adventurer society was much less organized and looked down on in the past before the [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Otherworlder]] (and [[PopCulturedBadass videogame-lover]]) Yuuki Kagurazaka arrived and reorganized the whole system into its current incarnation as its head. [[spoiler:The irony being that Yuuki is also the BigBad.]]

%% * Your party in the ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' games is one of these.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': Various Guilds and Factions are joinable in each game starting with ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]''. They tend to be more function-specific and function more like actual medieval guilds than the odd job clearinghouses that epitomize this trope. The Fighters Guild comes closest to the standard definition of the trope, offering tasks ranging from low-end [[RatStomp critter killing]] to being {{Bounty Hunter}}s to protection services to, at the high-end, dealing with supernatural threats. The Companions take this role instead in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''.
%% * Generic missions in ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity''.

* These exist in the various cities of E-Rantel in ''{{LightNovel/Overlord}}'', both taking requests for various missions to fight against the monsters of the world as well as setting prices and overseeing the ranking system that governs individual adventurers.

See also WeirdTradeUnion, MurderInc, ThievesGuild. Compare AdventurersClub CreatureHunterOrganization and TheOrder, which has a more rigid structure and better-defined purpose, and PrivateMilitaryContractors, the modern mercenary company counterpart. Also compare HeroAcademy, which focuses primarily on teaching students in successfully dealing with quests like those mentioned above (especially if such quests are strictly heroic) though may have some elements of Adventure Guild.

See also WeirdTradeUnion, MurderInc, ThievesGuild. Compare CreatureHunterOrganization and TheOrder, which has a more rigid structure and better-defined purpose, and PrivateMilitaryContractors, the modern mercenary company counterpart. Also compare HeroAcademy, which focuses primarily on teaching students in successfully dealing with quests like those mentioned above (especially if such quests are strictly heroic) though may have some elements of Adventure Guild.

* The Bracer's Guild from the ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries''. The lore goes on to explain a bit of how they function: they're a non-government organization that's allowed to operate among the nations who agree to host them. They do follow regulations, though: while they have legal authority to perform arrests, they are not allowed to arrest politicians, and they are not allowed to break any laws of the nation they're in while carrying out contracts. Due to the fact that they operate outside of the authority of the government they're seen in a poor light by the military as well as more influential figures.

* This is the primary mechanism to get missions in ''VideoGame/WingCommanderPrivateer''.

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the Adventurers' Guild, which formed after an abrupt cessation of a war with TheEmpire saw massive numbers of soldiers and mercenaries suddenly out of work. To prevent these free blades from turning to banditry and the like, the Guild was formed to organize and dispatch them on quests that range from delivering mail & gathering materials for craftsmen to exploring dangerous/remote areas and/or killing monsters. The Guild is the main source of work for the PlayerCharacter for the first sections of the game. As the story progresses, it falls into the background as the Warrior of Light begins interacting with major political players and secret societies on their own, but the Guild always happily acknowledges that the Warrior is still one of theirs [[RagsToRiches made good]].
* ''Videogame/GenshinImpact'' has the Adventurers Guild, an organization that can be found in every nation that supplies odd jobs for the common folks. All Adventurers' Guilds are staffed by a woman named Katheryne, who tiptoes around the question of whether she's actually omnipresent or [[InexplicablyIdenticalIndividuals a group of identical-looking women]]. In-game, they're the source of various daily activities such as Commissions, Expeditions and occasionally certain timed Events.

* High Level Familia such as Loki Familia operate as this in ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon''. In addition to slaying monsters in the titular dungeon they very frequently take on quests to retrieve drop items or rare materials from the dungeon, especially the lower levels, or act as escorts for members of the Familia more focused on crafting to gather the materials themselves. The Guild (which is not this, despite the name) can also issue quests directly, such as commanding Familia to participate in the defence of the city against would be invaders.
* These exist in the various cities of E-Rantel in ''{{LightNovel/Overlord}}'', both taking requests for various missions to fight against the monsters of the world as well as setting prices and overseeing the ranking system that governs individual adventurers.
* The world of ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' also has ones similar to those in ''Overlord''. The titular Goblin Slayer is infamous in the guild for only taking quests that involve killing goblins.
* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'' has a CyberPunk example in the Hunter’s Office, working for OneNationUnderCopyright. They hire PrivateMilitaryContractors called hunters, who mainly exist to find LostTechnology relics from ancient ruins in a DungeonBasedEconomy of scavenging AfterTheEnd cities of NeglectfulPrecursors known as the Old World. Their FantasticRankSystem rates a hunter based on relics recovered (which they under-pay for), and overall usefulness to the Corporate Government. Rank is used to restrict access to guns and ammunition. For instance, bullets designed to breach DeflectorShields cost 5 million aurum each for a hunter under rank 50, but 500 aurum for one above, to keep them from being used against the government. They handle DistressCall signals, patrols to thin out monsters and secure trade routes, and the like, besides relics. Their offices serve as a TruceZone where picking a fight is picking a fight with the government, in the otherwise completely lawless wasteland. It should be noted that the 'competing companies' aspect doesn’t apply to them, it’s Hunter Gangs who compete get contracts from the Hunter’s Office.

* ''LightNovel/ThatTimeIGotReincarnatedAsASlime'': The Free Guild originally established out of the Kingdom of Ingracia (though technically it's beholden to no nation) functions likes this. In exchange for paying taxes to the various nations out of which its branches operate, they have a great deal of autonomy in how they run things and take various requests from the nations, smaller villages, or even individuals. They also have adventurer training, ranks, and tests to promote rising candidates. Notably, the guild is rather new innovation as adventurer society was much less organized and looked down on in the past before the [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Otherworlder]] (and [[PopCulturedBadass videogame-lover]]) Yuuki Kagurazaka arrived and reorganized the whole system into its current incarnation as its head. [[spoiler:The irony being that Yuuki is also the BigBad.]]
* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': The MagicalLand into which Azusa is reincarnated has an Adventurer's Guild branch in the nearby town, among other RPGMechanicsVerse elements. Azusa sells the crystals she collects from killing slimes there, and its StatOVision artifact kicks off the main plot by revealing just how powerful she's become.

* Occurs in some ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]'' settings:

* The protagonists of ''VideoGame/RakenzarnTales'' all eventually belong to the Nutsy Guild of Densel Town. Besides serving as a base of sorts, it's also where you can access the game's sidequests.

* ''Videogame/GenshinImpact'' has the Adventurers Guild, an organization that can be found in every nation that supplies odd jobs for the common folks. All Adventurers' Guilds are staffed by a woman named Katheryne, who tiptoes around the question of why she's seemingly omnipresent. In-game, they're the source of various daily activities such as Commissions, Expeditions and occasionally certain timed Events.

* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesForThreeHundredYearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': The MagicalLand into which Azusa is reincarnated has an Adventurer's Guild branch in the nearby town, among other RPGMechanicsVerse elements. Azusa sells the crystals she collects from killing slimes there, and its StatOVision artifact kicks off the main plot by revealing just how powerful she's become.

** On ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' we have Kingdom of Ierendi's Adventurer's Club, which is a cross between this trope, a worker's union and a celebrity association. Members are required to not only take quests and commit heroic deeds, but also be on their best behavior, as they represent the kingdom, and to each year participate in a tournament to elect new King and Queen. They are also much laxer about who can join than an average example of this trope, as one of the members of a red dragon.

* Black Star in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' was a militant wing of the Anarchist Black Cross that provided training and support for the titular Shadowrunners, originally Neo-Anarchist mercenaries who were paid by the {{Mega Corp}}s to sabotage their competitors and inadvertantly chip away at the system they had created. However, Black Star was decimated in 4th edition during the Az-Am War, and "modern" Shadowrunners tend to be freelancers only in it for the money.

** On ''TabletopGame/{{Mystara}}'' we have Kingdom of Ierendi's Adventurer's Club, which is a cross between this trope, a worker's union and a celebrity association. Members are required to not only take quests and commit heroci deets, but also be on their best behavior, as they represent the kingdom, and to each yer participate in a tournament to elect new King and Queen. They are also much laxer about who can join than an average example of this trope, as one of the members of a red dragon.

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the Adventurers' Guild, which formed after an abrupt cessation of a war with TheEmpire saw massive numbers of soldiers and mercenaries suddenly out of work. To prevent these free blades from turning to banditry and the like, the Guild was formed to organize and dispatch them on quests that range from delivering mail, gathering materials for craftsmen, exploring dangerous/remote areas or killing monsters. The Guild is the main source of work for the PlayerCharacter for the first sections of the game. As the story progresses, it falls into the background as the Warrior of Light begins interacting with major political players and secret societies on their own, but the Guild always happily acknowledges that the Warrior is still one of theirs [[RagsToRiches made good]].

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'' has a CyberPunk example in the Hunter’s Office, working for OneNationUnderCopyright. They hire PrivateMilitaryContractors called hunters, who mainly exist to find LostTechnology relics from ancient ruins in a DungeonBasedEconomy of scavenging AfterTheEnd cities of NeglectfulPrecursors known as the Old World. Their FantasticRankSystem rates a hunter based on relics recovered (which they under-pay for), and overall usefulness to the Corporate Government. Rank is used to restrict access to guns and ammunition. For instance, bullets designed to breach DeflectorShields cost 5 million aurum each for a hunter under rank 50, but 500 aurum for one above, to keep them from being used against the government. They handle DistressCall signals, patrols to thin out monsters and secure trade routes, and the like, besides relics. Their offices serve as a TruceZone where picking a fight is picking a fight with the government, in the otherwise completely lawless wasteland. It should be noted that the 'competing companies' aspect doesn’t apply to them, it’s Hunter Gangs are who compete get contracts from the Hunter’s Office.

* In the fourth chapter of ''VideoGame/TheSeveralJourneysOfReemus'', Reemus and Liam visit the Department of Heroic Quests in order to gain official recognition for their quest to defeat the death slugs. Due to [[ObstructiveBureaucrat obstructive bureaucracy]], they end up having to take odd jobs from the notice board in order to build up their reputation, and later they have to find a way to delay the death slugs' next attack while they wait for their quest to become approved.

** Adventurer's Guilds are common in ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}''. The city of Sharn has two competing ones, the Clifftop and Deathsgate guild.

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the Adventurers' Guild, which formed after an abrupt cessation of a war with TheEmpire saw massive numbers of soldiers and mercenaries suddenly out of work. To prevent these free blades from turning to banditry and the like, the Guild was formed to organize and dispatch them on quests that range from delivering mail, gathering materials for craftsmen or killing monsters. The Guild is the main source of work for the PlayerCharacter for the first sections of the game. As the story progresses, it falls into the background as the Warrior of Light begins interacting with major political players and secret societies on their own, but the Guild always happily acknowledges that the Warrior is still one of theirs [[RagsToRiches made good]].

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has the Adventurers' Guild, which formed after an abrupt cessation of a war with TheEmpire saw massive numbers of soldiers and mercenaries suddenly out of work. To prevent these free blades from turning to banditry and the like, the Guild was formed to organize and dispatch them on quests that range from delivering mail,gathering materials for craftsmen or killing monsters. The Guild is the main source of work for the PlayerCharacter for the first sections of the game. As the story progresses, it falls into the background as the Warrior of Light begins interacting with major political players and secret societies on their own, but the Guild always happily acknowledges that the Warrior is still one of theirs [[RagsToRiches made good]].

* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesForThreeHundredYearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': The MagicalLand into which Azusa is reincarnated has an Adventurer's Guild branch in the nearby town, among other RPGMechanicsVerse elements. Azusa sells the crystals she collects from killing slimes there; its StatOVision artifact kicks off the main plot by revealing just how powerful she's become; and she accepts a "quest" from it to deal with some troublesome local wildlife.

* The world of ''LightNovel/GoblinSlayer'' also has ones similar to those in ''Overlord''. The titular Goblin Slayer in infamous in the guild for only taking quests that involve killing goblins.