This article is part of a series for both the April 2020 RPG Blog Carnival and the 2020 Blogging A to Z Challenge.

Ravnica’s vast, worldwide cityscape is a patchwork of grand halls, decrepit slums, and ancient ruins, with layer upon layer of stonework—and guild maneuverings. Of the world’s countless civic centers, one looms large above all others: the City of Ravnica, a metropolis so vast that its name has long since become synonymous with the entire plane. It is here, amid the mazes of streets and towering Gothic spires, that Ravnica’s ten guilds vie for power.

The military Boros Legion believes righteousness is fire, shining with the light of justice. The dragon-led Izzet League fuses elemental magic and technology, making its members the undisputed masters of innovation.

The exclusive members of the Selesnya Conclave honor selflessness, nurturing, and spiritual congregation—while outsiders see them as brainwashed nature cultists. The death-worshiping Golgari Swarm controls a vast undead army and labor force in the city’s underbelly. Secretive House Dimir fuels ghost stories of necromancer advisors, phantasmal assassins, and black horrors slithering in the sewers.

The Orzhov Syndicate is a rigid hierarchy of pomp and ritual, slaves to deals and coin. The Gruul Clans is the guild of beggars, gangs, and raiding parties, all driven by base urges and instinct.

The Azorius Senate are the primary lawmakers on Ravnica, in contrast to the demon-led Cult of Rakdos, who delight in thrill-killing and pleasure-seeking. Amid all this politics and chaos, the researchers of the Simic Combine work industriously to maintain nature, even modifying it to survive.

The power of each guild had been kept in check by an ancient agreement known as the Guildpact. But as this agreement dissolves, conflict once again flares.

«Stand With Your Guild. Defend Your Guild.»

For your campaign

The Implicit Maze is a system of leylines through the guildgates and districts of Ravnica that has manifested after the Guildpact was destroyed. The maze was created by Azor I to be revealed in case the Guildpact dissolved. In this way, the founder of the Azorius Senate tried to foster an atmosphere of peaceful collaboration. At the end of the maze in the Forum of Azor lies great power, but in order for it to be solved, all the guilds of Ravnica must participate at once… or compete with each other.

New storyline: Dragon’s Maze

Unfortunately, including a mechanical element for this plane would spoil a personal project I’m planning to develop and publish in the DM’s Guild, so instead I’ll give you a summary for this exciting storyline… with a twist to turn it into a D&D campaign.

Part I: Choose your Guild

Once, the law of city and plane of Ravnica was dictated by the Guildpact and was controlled in relative harmony by the ten guilds, but during the Decamillennial celebration, the Guildpact was broken. As we make our characters know and trust each other, they are made to work together to follow a magical code that is built into the very foundations of the city-world itself.

Part II: Fight for your Guild

As they march into the numinous depths of Ravnica’s underbelly in search of the promise of powerful magic, alliances and loyalties will be put to the test as the once-buried-in-the-past code resurfaces and Ravnica’s power-hungry mage guilds, unbound by the Guildpact that had once maintained order, struggle for control of the plane. The greater mystery of the Implicit Maze is discovered and a race will be needed to see who will unlock its secrets.

Part III: Ten Guilds, One Destination

At an appointed time, the champions meet at the Transguild Promenade, and embark on a race through the twists and turns of the maze. The one who triumphs, gains the power behind it for his or her guild. The rest will fall to its dangers.

No, this one is not based in the Maze Runner (which would be a fantastic D&D campaign spanning several genres), but only in the MtG storyline from Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash all the way down to Dragon’s Maze.