The Blackshire Mercenary Company

Hired Hands or Fearsome Foes?

The Blackshire Mercenary Company is a guild of mercenaries with a reputation for getting things done-no matter how dirty they may need to get their hands in order to do it. A popular and wide-ranging guild, they have chapter houses in dozens of cities, and are an excellent, reliable, and affordable way to go about hiring mercenaries, especially for unsavory causes.

This book contains a full set of membership rules for PCs who are interested in joining the Blackshire Mercenary Company, providing a framework for what kinds of rewards-and obligations-they can expect from their membership, and what it takes to get ahead in the guild. The book also provides information for hiring Blackshire mercenaries, including a pricing guide and the general terms of service under which the company's contracts operate, providing clear guidelines for this previously quite nebulous service. The book also contains a number of sample Blackshire mercenaries, who could be hired by the PCs, or serve as quest-givers, mentors, rivals, or even arch-enemies.

Finally, the book introduces the Blackshire exemplar prestige class, which provides martially-inclined characters with a number of secret guild techniques for combat, some of which are impressive feats of daring-do, and others of which are more in the line of "fighting dirty."

If you've ever wanted to see a "fighter's guild" in your game, look no further than Necromancers of the Northwest Presents: The Blackshire Mercenary Company.