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The Syndicate

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Gold is the Syndicate’s lifeblood, secrets its currency, and loyalty its weapon. Only a fool mistakes it for a mere thieves' guild.
—Lady Freydis of House Thorn

The Syndicate is a web of interconnected power brokers, criminal enterprises, and covert agents that operate secretly within disparate factions all over the world. While its true leadership (if it has any) remains shrouded in mystery, its influence extends across whole continents, entwining with politics, trade, and war.

Known Affiliates

The Syndicate’s reach is stretches across many factions and not every member of every faction is aware of its existence:

Among the Retainers, a treasure-hunting merchant guild, ventures often serve as a cover for the acquisition of illicit goods and relics. Their activities blur the line between commerce and piracy.
The international thieves' guild of the Graybreakers specialize in smuggling, espionage, and high-profile heists that are often outsourced to the highest bidder.
Cheapside’s criminal underworld in Arcanum forms a complex network of gangs and fences operates under Syndicate protection that feed the city’s black market.
Within the Dread Legion, The mercenaries of Mordaine, though fiercely independent, have ties to the Syndicate, often acting as enforcers or private armies for its dealings.
A string of arms dealers and fences supply weapons and contraband to both the Empire of Arcadia and the Lords of Vanis across Nithaven, ensuring the Syndicate’s profitability in times of war.
Members of the Shadowvale Council occasionally collaborate with the Syndicate by supplying Changeling infiltrators, who leverage the network to advance their own agendas.
And finally, Telrain’s corrupt political apparatus exerts influence over the academies of Telrain, who use the city’s advancements in magic and technology to supply the Syndicate with an arcane black market.

The Syndicate’s tendrils are everywhere, and involvement with its network is as perilous as it is profitable. Exposing Syndicate members is a surefire way to end up in the grave given the pseudo-organization's vast resources. Like the Operators, the Syndicate’s true leadership operates incognito. Those who seek to challenge the Syndicate’s influence often discover too late that its power is not centralized—it is diffuse, hydra-like, and impossible to kill.

Story Hooks

The Syndicate as an umbrella organization for various game-world factions is only interesting if the campaign is concerned with cloak and dagger adventures and a central Big Bad Guy Who is Behind it All, otherwise you might as well let the Syndicate disappear into the background. If the Syndicate is going to be a major influence in the campaign, you need to expose the party to its presence in small doses over time. Betrayals and reversals are key to demonstrating the Syndicate’s power to the party. In such a secretive organization, loyalty is a more valuable currency than gold.

As a GM, you don’t necessarily need to know who’s exactly is behind it all at the outset; what’s important is keeping the character of the organization consistent. To that end, you might consider running the OSR+ session zero prompts against the Syndicate as a character, to help you flesh out its intention and goals.

Consider this scenario: the party uncovers evidence that a prominent political leader in Telrain is secretly beholden to the Syndicate. Exposing the connection could destabilize the city’s governance, but remaining silent ensures the Syndicate’s continued interference in political affairs.

Should the party risk chaos in Telrain to weaken the Syndicate’s influence?
What consequences might arise if the leader’s ties to the Syndicate are revealed?
Could the Syndicate use the party’s actions as a scapegoat to consolidate its power further?

Tags: Guilds

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The Syndicate

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The Order of Mankind

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