Step-Based Compensation in Faerûn: Paying Your People the Guild Way

In the cities and strongholds of Faerûn, coin doesn’t just flow through markets and mead halls, it flows through payroll ledgers. Whether you’re an apprentice scribe in Candlekeep or a battle-hardened inventory porter in Waterdeep’s lower docks, your pay is determined by a system that’s as structured as a dwarven fortress: step-based compensation.

This isn’t just a civilized form of gold distribution. It’s how guilds and trading companies standardize pay, encourage career growth, and keep labor disputes from devolving into fireball-flinging protests.

What Is Step-Based Compensation?

Step-based compensation is a tiered wage system where workers earn more as they progress through defined roles. Most guilds structure this into five steps, with each level tied to experience, certifications, or sometimes just surviving long enough to tell the tale.

These ranges aren’t static. In cities like Luskan, where danger clings to every crate, hazard pay bonuses may boost compensation by up to 50%. Some occupations also carry premiums depending on magical risk, rarity of skill, or guild scarcity.

Why the Steps Matter

In a continent bound together by trade routes and teleportation circles, consistency in compensation helps prevent chaos. Guilds enforce minimums, reward growth, and create expectations across the Sword Coast and beyond.

Step-based models also:

• Support career progression that’s visible and motivating.
• Enable structured training programs and certifications.
• Allow for easy workforce budgeting in tools like Dynamics 365.
• Prevent the “random NPC wage” effect from breaking immersion.

Common Faerûnian Pay Ranges

Here’s a sample from across guilds and corker classes:

These roles often reflect local conditions. A Potion Sampler in Amn may fetch higher rates due to alchemical guild demand, while an Inventory Porter in Mirabar might earn less thanks to automation by enchanted pulley systems.

Moving Up the Ranks

Progressing through compensation steps usually involves:

• Time served in a guild or under contract
• Performance evaluations from senior corkers
• Certifications and formal skill tests
• Survival, especially in hazardous roles like wild magic waste disposal

Guilds like the Grand Artisans League and the Arcane Artificers Union publish detailed advancement criteria, while others—like the Free Mercenaries League—prefer the “prove it or perish” method.

Standardizing Pay in Dynamics 365

For trading companies like the Waterdeep Trading Company, these steps are modeled directly in Dynamics 365 Human Resources:

• Job levels and skill requirements mapped to compensation bands
• Automated progression workflows tied to review periods
• Reports and dashboards showing wage distribution across sites
• Integration with guild dues and hazard premiums

This ensures your compensation structure reflects both fantasy logic and enterprise accountability.

Final Thoughts

Whether you’re enchanting potion bottles in Baldur’s Gate or hauling siege ballistae in Scornubel, step-based pay ensures that work in Faerûn is as structured as it is storied. It builds morale, supports retention, and ensures that even the lowliest apprentice has a path forward—ideally, one with fewer explosions.

Looking to implement your step-based compensation strategy (with or without beholder hazard pay)? Start your journey at adnd365.com/start and request access to the public demo of our Faerûn Dynamics 365 setup at https://public.adnd365.com, logging in with

Username: npc@adnd365.com

Password: N0nPl@yC#822!

The realm pays well—if you level up right.