The Guild of Calamitous Intent / HNCH

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What separates the Guild from most organizations is the complex Honor Code by which its members abide. The code was partially conceived as a set of rules and outlined in the Guild of Calamitous Intent’s official handbook and has since been expanded over the years with the signing of various treaties, and unspoken “gentlemen’s agreements” forged with various law enforcement organizations. These involve the Guild providing resources such as new police cruisers to local precincts, and banning its members from harming local cops under any circumstances, in exchange for the police turning a blind eye to the crimes committed by Guild members.

Following the Honor Code is required by all Guild members as a condition to join the group. While some members willingly follow these rules and do not question them, others see the rules as a bothersome formality that must be followed so as to ensure that they can still receive the Guild’s extraordinarily generous health and dental plans as well as a level of immunity from local law enforcement groups.

The code of conduct is complex; among the rules enforced are:

• Villains and their henchmen are severely limited in their choice of weapons, according to the severity of their situation and their target.
• In the case of some crimes the Guild will allow the member to continue as a member of the Guild but suffer penalties under the law, such as restraining orders against members who engage in inappropriate behavior.
• Anyone who is associated with the Guild through its “Arch-Nemesis Assignment Program” will be paired off with a villain of approximately equal power and inclination, and this is often decided via an interview process.
• Local law enforcement officers are off-limits and cannot be harmed. In turn, they seem content to occupy themselves with “regular crimes” and not “super-crimes.”
• Conflicts may not occur on any hallowed ground.
• “If protagonist aggression exceeds Level 8, the antagonist, in case of survival or escape, is granted Extended Vengeance. This includes Guild sanctioned immediate relatives.”
• A New Mental Health Clemency Clause of the Guild’s rules called “Section 8”, a villain must release his arch if they have to receive psychiatric help as long as the arch has a note from their doctor.
• Article 97D of Guild bylaws states: No villain may arch previously claimed nemesis, without first consulting the primary arch of said nemesis.
• The Guild’s Articles of collusion paragraph C stipulates: in the event of a team-up, the team’s right to arch supersede that of the primary. But not without offering the primary arch first right of refusal to participate in and/or lead said team-up.

Furthermore, all Guild members are required to follow and honor all treaties signed with the hero community. These include treaties banning Guild members from attacking heroes on holidays. Another treaty, “Rusty’s Law” states that a Guild member must allow a hero and their children to leave their custody in the event that the hero’s child becomes injured during the hostage situation to receive medical treatment (though apparently, the hostages are then required to voluntarily return to their captor’s custody once the injury has been treated).

Despite their honor code and rules the guild does encourage and/or tolerate certain behaviors, one such behavior they encourage is the double-cross (likely because it is viewed as part of the villainous lifestyle).

Breaking these rules and/or acts that leave the Guild no choice but to abandon a member can result in expulsion and revocation of any form of immunity from law enforcement.

The Guild’s rules, regulations, code, and treaties lead it to function far differently than one would expect a criminal organization to do. Most Guild actions involving violence seem to involve villain-on-hero conflict – regular civilians are left alone, or at worst knocked out harmlessly with such things as paralytic agents. The exception to this are those associated with heroes – for instance, it appears kidnapping is almost a constant.