90 Fantasy Guild Names for Thieves, Mages and Merchants

Thieves’ guilds

Criminal guilds rarely call themselves thieves. Most names are euphemisms, jokes or the name of a meeting place.

• The Quiet Hands: the city’s oldest pickpocket guild
• The Brotherhood of the Bent Coin: members carry a bent copper
• The Gutter Court: they hold trials in the sewers
• The Velvet Glove: burglars to the nobility, by appointment
• The Rooftop Company
• The Lockless: no door is shut to them
• The Ninefingers: every member has lost one
• The Tallow Cats: they steal candles first, then everything else
• The Sweepers: they also really do sweep the streets
• The Kindly Uncles: a protection racket that sends birthday gifts
• The Copper Crows
• The Low Market: a fence’s guild that sells anything
• The Ashen Purse
• The Lamplighters’ Fraternity: they know which lamps to leave unlit

Mages’ guilds and arcane orders

• The Collegium of the Seventh Lamp: a teaching college with six lamps
• The Circle of Quills: scholars of written magic
• The Starward Conclave: astrologers and diviners
• The Society of Measured Flame: fire mages who insist on safety
• The Vellum Order
• The Hollow Tower Fellowship: their tower is bigger inside
• The Lantern Academy
• The Assembly of the Open Eye: seers who publish what they see
• The Mirrorwright Circle: illusionists and enchanters
• The Cobalt Chapter
• The Fellowship of the Unwritten Page: they study spells nobody has cast
• The Ninefold Synod: nine schools, constantly arguing

Merchant and trade guilds

• The Worshipful Company of Spicers
• The Saltway Compact: controls the salt road and its tolls
• The Gilded Scale: moneylenders who lend to kings
• The Merchant Venturers of Port Varrow: they fund ships and take half
• The Honest Measure: the name is aspirational
• The Lantern Street Exchange
• The Amber Road Company: caravan traders on the eastern route
• The Fellowship of Weights and Measures: they set the market’s scales
• The Silk and Silver League
• The Copper Bell Consortium: a bell rings when a deal is closed
• The Harbourmasters’ League
• The Grain Moot: controls the bread price, and therefore the city

Adventurers’ guilds and mercenary companies

• The Lantern Wardens: they clear the old roads of monsters
• The Ninth Banner Company: eight banners were lost in battle
• The Free Swords of Kaldvik
• The Road Wardens: paid by the mile
• The Ironbound Company
• The Torchbearers’ Guild: dungeon delvers for hire
• The Dragon’s Debt: founded to pay off a very large loan
• The Last Mile Company: escorts for the dangerous end of a journey
• The Brass Compass Society: explorers and mapmakers
• The Grey Cloaks
• The Wyvern Hunters’ Lodge: bounties pinned to the door
• The Company of the Open Road

Craft guilds

• The Worshipful Company of Lampwrights
• The Guild of Hammer and Tongs: smiths and farriers
• The Honourable Company of Masons: they guard building secrets closely
• The Glassblowers’ Fellowship
• The Weavers’ Loom: the largest guild in a cloth town
• The Brewers’ Barrel Guild
• The Fellowship of the Plumb Line: carpenters and joiners
• The Tanners’ Moot: meets downwind of everyone else
• The Chartermen of the Quill: scribes and copyists
• The Bellfounders’ Company

Holy and knightly orders

• The Order of the Dawn Lantern: they guard travellers at night
• The Knights of the Ninth Bell
• The Wardens of the Ashen Gate: they watch a sealed door
• The Sisters of the Quiet Well: healers who take a vow of silence
• The Brotherhood of the Open Hand: monks who give everything away
• The Order of the Salt Crown: a coastal order of sea knights
• The Lamplit Vigil
• The Knights Mendicant of the Long Road: they own only their swords
• The Shepherds of the Grey Fold
• The Order of the Unbroken Shield: no member has ever retreated, officially

Secret societies and cults

• The Seventh Chair: six members meet, one chair stays empty
• The Unseen Ledger: they record every secret in the city
• The Society of the Closed Door
• The Moth Lodge: they meet by candlelight in a different house each month
• The Readers of the Last Page: they believe the world is a book near its end
• The Gardeners: they prune the nobility
• The Tuesday Club: a harmless dining society, apparently
• The Children of the Ember
• The Whispering Board
• The Circle of the Pale Key: each member holds one key to one lock

Assassins and spies

• The Silent Quill: contracts are written, never spoken
• The Undertakers’ Company: they bury what they cause
• The Final Courtesy
• The Nightjar Network: informants in every inn
• The Pale Ribbon: a ribbon left on the pillow is a warning
• The Glass Knives
• The Clockmakers: they arrange for people to run out of time
• The Black Wax: their seal on a letter means the end
• The Lullaby
• The Tidy Hand: nothing is ever traced back

What is a good name for a thieves’ guild?

Thieves’ guilds work best with a euphemism or an in-joke rather than a menacing title: The Quiet Hands, The Kindly Uncles, The Sweepers. A criminal organisation needs a name that sounds harmless when spoken in public, so the watch cannot simply arrest anyone who mentions it.

How do I name a guild in D&D?

Start with what the guild does and who joins it, then pick a symbol members can wear or recognise, such as a lamp, a coin or a key. Put the two together with a word for the group: The Order of the Dawn Lantern, The Brotherhood of the Bent Coin. Finally, decide whether the name is public or secret.

What is the difference between a guild, an order and a faction?

A guild is an association of people in the same trade who protect their members and their prices. An order is bound by vows or a shared cause, often religious or knightly. A faction is any group with its own agenda in a setting’s politics, which can include guilds and orders.

What are some good names for a mages’ guild?

Mages’ guilds suit scholarly words like Collegium, Conclave, Circle, Synod and Society, combined with an image of learning or light: The Circle of Quills, The Starward Conclave, The Collegium of the Seventh Lamp.

What should I call an adventurers’ guild?

Adventurers’ guilds and mercenary companies are usually named after what they do or where they were founded: The Lantern Wardens, The Torchbearers’ Guild, The Free Swords of Kaldvik. “Company” suits a band that fights for pay, and “Lodge” suits hunters.