After rebounding off the convoluted Contribution Shop menu like a vampire stumbling upon a cross, I looked into the NPC menu. There were three positions I could fill for a level 1: a Cook, a Trainer, and a Guild Manager.
A Cook was wasted expense in my mind. It might be nice at a later stage to have Guild dinners and sit around a big table and bond. But for now, virtual Last Suppers was damn near at the bottom of my list of priorities.
I glanced through the Trainer options, and contemplated seeing if I could hire Denise to fill that role. But ultimately, she was a spellcasting specialist, and it wasn’t clear if that would be the most beneficial use of our single Trainer slot.
There was something to be said for having trustworthy actors with direct access to the Guild, but for now, I decided to defer hiring that NPC until we had established some other more pertinent things.
And that brought me to the Guild Manager NPC. When I clicked on the option, a description appeared, along with a disgusting cost that made me scowl.
Guild Manager: This highly-skilled individual is an expert in logistics, business, and organization. The employment of a Guild Manager will help offset the burden of running a professional Guild.
These individuals can be utilized in many different ways, but some of the most common uses are as follows:
1. Configure and source materials for the Guild’s Contribution Shop. The Guild Manager will take direction on what to stock up on and for what price, but can also exhibit autonomy based on more fluid specifications.
2. A Guild Manager also specializes in the organization of discrete groups within the larger Guild. This can mean coordinating different Raid or War groups, directing members as to which materials need to be farmed, or coordinating the defense of a War-enabled Guildhall.
3. Another important responsibility of the Guild Manager is to act as a go-between for the other NPCs under the Guild’s employ. This can be particularly useful when Guilds own multiple Halls and employ dozens of NPCs that need to be coordinated.
Cost:
Level 1 Guild Manager:
1. Contract Hire (10 hours per week) - 75,000 gold per month (on call unavailable)
2. Part-Time (25 hours per week) - 150,000 gold per month (+10% on call fee for actor continuity + 5% retainer)
3. Full-Time (50 hours per week) - 250,000 gold per month (+10% on call fee for actor continuity + 5% retainer)
Those prices staggered me. This was for a level 1 for fuck’s sake. I couldn’t imagine what a level 5 or 6 Guild Manager cost per month. Still, having a professional to run the logistics of the Guild sounded vital, and I already knew I wanted Harold to hold the position, which mean I needed to go for option 2 or 3 for “actor continuity”. The on call option was click-able, so I did that, and a new information pane opened up.
On Call:
When an actor is employed to fill a position where continuity is desired, the option exists to place that actor ‘on call’. When an actor is on call, they will be paged when their presence is required - except when they have exceeded their 12-hour work window for the day (bypass 12-hour work window for a penalty fee). An on call actor has 15 minutes from the page to make themselves available or be docked pay.
The cost of an on call actor is a 10% premium on the position in question, plus a 5% retainer to lock in exclusivity with that actor.
In the event that an on call actor misses their 15-minute window post page, the premium and retainer will be refunded on a prorated basis.
I read that description with trepidation. Of course, I’d heard of the on call mechanism from other actors and from my initial employment orientation with S&S. But reading the exact details, it felt…wrong, I guess. Forcing an actor to always be available and have to login within 15 minutes of when they were summoned was crazy. How could someone have a life under those restrictions? Was it hypocritical of me to employ actors under those stipulations after all my bitching about the work conditions?
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
But then I reread everything a Guild Manager could do for us. It was so beneficial. Of course, I could just employ the Manager and not swing for the continuity fees. But then I wouldn’t know who I was getting. And did I really think the S&S execs like Holt wouldn’t find a way to slip their own actor in there? A bad actor - no pun intended - could wreak havoc on DGW considering all the perks and responsibilities they had to manage.
I realized that it just wasn’t feasible not to get the continuity package. I would just have to implement some stipulations to protect Harold’s work-life balance. Maybe I could even configure it so he wasn’t summoned or paged unless it was me calling for him. That way, I knew he wasn’t being abused by the other members. I could even setup a shift schedule so he knew ahead of time when we would need him, and could plan his outside schedule without fear of being paged.
Yeah, that sounded like a good compromise.
I clicked on the Guild Manager package - option 2 for now, because I couldn’t stomach dropping almost 300,000 gold on one actor - and I purchased it. The total cost was 172,500 gold for the month, and it was paid upfront.
God…that hurt.
I went into the Guild Manager tab and noted there was an actor field that was selectable. Clicking on that opened up a list of possible actors, with my favorited actors at the top of the list. Denise and Ryan from Hope’s End were grayed out due to not having the necessary qualifications. That just left Harold.
I selected his name and clicked the Request Actor button.
I went to close out the menus for now, content to go try out my Private Room, when a pop sound came from behind me. I whirled around, my weapon out in a flash, my heart pounding.
A small man stood in the room, a confused look on his face as he looked around. When I saw his nameplate, I relaxed.
Guild Manager
Employed by Damsels Gone Wild (DGW)
Level 1
His eyes locked on me and the confusion cleared, replaced with a smile.
“Ray! It’s good to see you!” he said, his tone pleased. “I wasn’t expecting you to require my services so…promptly.”
“Harold, what’s up, man? Good to see you, too!” I reached my hand out and he returned my handshake. “Yeah, I started going through the Guild menus and was feeling a bit overwhelmed. I hope you don’t mind me selecting the on call option for your employment?” I asked hesitantly.
He waved away my concern. “Oh, that? Not a problem at all.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “They bump our pay when we’re on call, and I don’t mind the extra creds.”
I patted him on the shoulder, slightly mollified. “Good to hear. Still, I want to make sure this doesn’t screw with your real life, you know? Once we get a bit more settled and fall into a groove, we should talk about scheduling. I absolutely don’t want you to be paged for any reason, so let’s figure that out in a couple days.”
His face grew serious, his eyes soft. “That is very kind of you, Ray. While I appreciate the effort, I refuse to let that affect my work as your Guild Manager.”
“Hmm, well I appreciate your dedication, but ultimately, this is a game,” I said, my tone firm. “Just a game…”
He tilted his head quizzically, his eyebrows raising. “Is that true?” he asked. “I don’t subscribe to trash sites with clickbait articles…but I may have seen a certain video making the rounds…” he trailed off, leaving the obvious part unsaid.
I scrunched my nose at that. “Well, it’s true, I’m stuck in this game and I most likely only have the one life…” I waved away his concern. “But that doesn’t mean I need to ruin other people’s lives to thrive in this game. We’ll make a schedule work, okay?” My tone was adamant this time.
“Whatever you say, Ray. You’re the boss,” he added with a bow.
“Glad we agree on that,” I said with a smirk. “Now, I need to sleep, like, right now, or I may go on a murder spree…”
“Say no more,” he said. His eyes glazed over as he accessed a menu. “It appears you’ve already unlocked a single private room, and it’s configured to you only. Feel free to go relax - I’ll begin with setting up a basic Contribution Store.”
“Thank God,” I said to the air. “Let me just introduce you to the guys so they don’t think some rando has infiltrated the Hall.” I turned to go find the guys, but looked back at Harold briefly. “Don’t mind the one named Jeremy. He’ll probably offend you within thirty seconds. But he’s got a good heart - it's covered in cheeto dust and wrapped in a 7-layer dip of political incorrectness - but underneath it all, he's a good person and my best friend.”
“Understood. I am not easily offended,” Harold said with a beaming smile.
I scoffed. “Immovable object, let’s go find the unstoppable force.”