The organizations in The Elder Scrolls series (also known as "guilds" or "factions") are an element of play that The Elder Scrolls games have had in common since The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. Daggerfall, along with The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion contains a series of fictional factions, many of which are available for the player character to become a member of. These factions have become a key feature in the game, with the main plot of Morrowind revolving around being a member of certain factions.
The joining of factions is an optional element of the games, reflecting the open-ended, sandbox nature of The Elder Scrolls series. Joining organizations offer players a number of advantages, primarily being given quests by other members then rising through the ranks of the guild. While some organizations (especially the guilds) appear in numerous games, others (such as the noble houses in Morrowind) are unique to their own game.
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The guild system was introduced in Daggerfall, replacing the more rigid class system that had been in place in The Elder Scrolls: Arena.[1] However, Todd Howard said that the only thing that he would change if he was redoing Daggerfall was the system of factions, which he believed did not work as advertised.[2] After finding that joining guilds was so popular in Daggerfall, designers decided to make joining guilds a bigger part of Morrowind.[2] Guilds and organizations in Morrowind took inspiration from real-world historical groups, with the Imperial Empire reminiscent of the Roman or British empires, The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon's East Empire Company taking inspiration from the East India Company and the architecture of House Hlaalu showing Arabic influences.[3][4] Joinable factions were retained in Oblivion, where each joinable guild was given one head designer. Once they had designed a quest, they presented it to the entire development team of around 50, after which time the team gave feedback, allowing for the quest to be tweaked.[5]
A player is able to join certain organizations (especially guilds and houses) giving them certain benefits. In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, there were five joinable guilds- the Fighters' Guild, the Mages' Guild, the Thieves' Guild, the Dark Brotherhood and the Arena.[6] There was also one "secret" joinable guild- the Blades.[6] There was also a conscious choice from the designers to not allow the player to join certain guilds, including the Imperial Legion, due to the different roles that the organizations play in Cyrodiil to what they did in Vvardenfell, where Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind was set.[6]
Once a member of a guild, a player is set quests by NPC guild members. The quest typically has an objective fitting the nature of the guild and the player is left to decide how to complete it themselves. For instance, in Morrowind, there are numerous Thieves' Guilds quests revolving around stealing specific items,[7] and in Oblivion, a Dark Brotherhood quest involves the player being invited to a mock party at which he is tasked to kill every other attendee. Todd Howard said that "there are so many ways to do that quest and it isn't a 'run through a dungeon with armour' kind of quest", saying that it was one of his favorite in the game.[5] In Morrowind, a guild would typically have numerous NPCs with quests per guild, totaling somewhere between twenty and thirty quests per guild.[7] Guild quests are separate from the game's main story, and so though the main plot may feature the factions, a player does not need to work their way through them. As such, the player can choose to ignore the main plot or the factions as they please.[2]
Benefits of guild membership includes the ability to rise in ranks through the organization, until the player becomes the head of the faction.[8] In Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, being a high rank changed little apart from the way that other guild members addressed the player, while in Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion certain services are not available to players until they are high up in the guild- for instance, enchanting is not available to players unless they are of a certain rank in the Mages' Guild.[6]
Guild relationships in Daggerfall were minimal, and so, despite in-game rumors of organizations being at war, there were no gameplay elements influenced by this in the final version of the game, despite the fact there had been plans to have some.[9] In Morrowind, joining a guild would result in members liking you more, leading to cheaper goods and services.[10] This also worked in reverse, with members of opposed guilds liking you less.[10] Oblivion took this further, introducing a Radiant AI system, allowing NPCs to have their own goals and motivations. Though this did not work on a wider scale to create goals for entire guilds, NPCs were automatically friendly to other NPC guild members.[6]
In Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, there are a large number of joinable organizations that all have loosely the same format. Each organization offers quests and services, but joining an organization of one type may preclude membership in another organization of the same type. For example, each of the Nine Divines has an affiliated Temple, but the player may only join one such temple. These Temples offer different services based on the Divine worshiped therein; a Temple of Julianos offers spellmaking services to high-ranking members, while others may offer Daedra summoning or other services. Knightly orders are present in some countries, which offer quests, repairs, and at higher levels, houses. The Mages' Guilds offer spellmaking, enchanting, magic item vendors, spell vendors, skill trainers, and free libraries, although rank determines availability. The Fighters' Guilds offer skill trainers, item repair, and free lodging to accompany its steady stream of simple quests. The Thieves' Guilds offers few services, although some offer the services of a spymaster, who is knowledgeable about many dialog topics, and a magic item vendor. The Dark Brotherhood claims the strangest guildhalls, typically homes filled with people who appear to be insane, but also feature services like alchemy and relatively involved quests.
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind contained a large number of joinable factions after the popularity of joining organizations was so high in Daggerfall. The main quest revolves around joining the Blades, the Emperor's bodyguards, and later the Ashlanders, nomadic groups of Morrowind natives. On top of this, there are the three main guilds (the Fighters' Guild, the Mages' Guild and the Thieves' Guild) and the three houses (House Hlaalu, House Telvanni and House Redoran). There are also two joinable groups based around the Imperial settlers on Morrowind; the Imperial Cult and the Imperial Legion. The native equivalent of the Imperial Cult, the Temple, can be joined, as can the Morag Tong, a Dunmer assassins' group. Additionally, if the character becomes a vampire, there are vampire groups that can be joined with their own quest paths.[11] The Bloodmoon expansion introduces one new joinable faction, the East Empire Company, a group of settlers on the island of Solstheim.
While many factions have a rivalry, and some are openly opposed or even violent towards one another, such as the Dark Brotherhood and the Morag Tong, there is only a minimal amount of direct opposition, in which doing a quest for one guild would damage a player's standing in another.The Elder Scrolls III: Tribunal also did not feature as much inter-faction gameplay. [3]
Most groups and factions will punish members that attack or steal from other guild members. However, almost all will always offer a way in which they can have their name cleared and re-join with no further punishment. [12]
In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, there are five major factions that the player is able to join, each with their own unique storyline. The three main guilds return; The Fighters Guild, is shown to be a deteriorating guild of mercenaries which is being cheated out by their shady rival guild, the Blackwood Company, The Mages Guild, which is currently under heavy attack by a vicious cadre of necromancers, and The Thieves Guild, a complex network of thieves, fences, and beggars who are led by the mysterious Gray Fox. The Dark Brotherhood also returns, and The Arena, an organization of gladiators who fight in a grand arena in the Imperial City, is introduced.
The Blades, which plays a role in the game's main plot line, rather than being a conventional guild organization, is joinable.[6] The same is true of The Mythic Dawn, a daedric cult may be joined for a short time during the main quest line. Other minor joinable factions are The Order of the Virtuous Blood, a group of vampire "hunters" in the Imperial City, The Order of the White Stallion, created by Count Marius Caro of Leyawiin, on completion of the "Mazoga the Orc" quest and The Knights of the Thorn, a group of knights created by Farwil Indarys, son of Count Andel Indarys in the 3E 431. You can get in the order if you manage to close the oblivion gate near Cheydinhal and also save Farwil who is trapped inside the gate.
Expansions to the game introduce two new factions, though neither are joinable in the typical sense. In Knights of the Nine, the player forms and joins The Knights of the Nine. In the second expansion, Shivering Isles, The Court of the Prince of Madness is introduced. It is not a formal faction but comes with its own set of activities and benefits post-game as the player works to replace Sheogorath, the Prince of Madness.
In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Director and Executive Producer Todd Howard has confirmed that the game will contain three major factions; The Companions (warrior faction), The College of Winterhold (mage faction) and the Thieves' Guild will all be joinable.
During the gaming convention, QuakeCon, in early August 2011, three more factions have been confirmed. A note with a Black Hand imprinted on it, with the subtitle "We Know" encountered during the video demo was confirmed by Todd Howard to mean the return of the Dark Brotherhood, a group of professional assassins. As well as this, a Rebel group, called the Stormcloaks were encountered in Riverwood and the Riverwood Warrior clan was also confirmed during the gameplay demo at the convention, played by representatives from several influential game review bodies, including IGN, AusGamer and Kotaku.
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To summarize, joinable factions in Skyrim include:
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