Guild of Games: Basic Information

Basically, no one knows. This Secret Society is very old, very powerful, and wants to remain secret and not lose it's power.

They are not socialites or politicians, (although some do fall into those categories). The members are scientists, doctors, architects, engineers, computer and robotics geniuses, military tacticians, and weapons specialists.
They are the mental elite, and they have grown bored with their fellow man. Using the death of others for entertainment has always been popular for those of station and status. This group makes sure the games are good.
Of course there is great profit, through a percentage of the gambling on the games' outcomes, and Spectator fees.
The thrill for Guild members, however, is the challenge of creating a good arena, testing their fellow man, and proving to each other that they are still the best humanity has to offer.

Very little is known about the guild as their members stay for life, rarely recruit and are very good at what they do. The guild, through careful research, finds those they invite to their events.
They have a multi tiered system for getting people into the games, payment for being allowed to join The Spectator's Club, and payment for their share for the gambling.
Even if you happen to hear about the games, it will be very difficult to ever meet anyone else who has. Those who go digging, usually find out much more than they could imagine... As they wake to find themselves in the arena.

There are several ways the Guild recruits it's competitors.
Many are simply kidnapped. Some for their skills, some for getting too close, and some to eliminate for various reasons allowed by the members of the Guild.
Others are recruited for their skills and paid well to try to survive, and better if they do. Grand prizes and payouts are offered to entice heroes of the day to come participate willingly.
The third way to find yourself in the arena is to owe the Guild. Members come from all areas of business legal and otherwise. Many criminal geniuses find themselves in a bind owing unpayable debts to the Guild and putting your life up is a good way to get a second chance.
The last main way to find yourself in the arena is looking to prove yourself. Some of the members want to test their upper level management to see if they truly have the will to do what it takes to survive. In many companies the Guild is affiliated with, the competition for upper management truly is kill or be killed.
There are other ways to end up here, but this gives you an idea of the type of people the Guild are behind closed doors.

In public, however, the members are the the benificiaries to the 'Verse.
The Doctor that has come to find a way to bind cybernetic implants to cure Banthrope's disease might be a member.
The Captain who was just awarded the Galbraithe Cross for leading a team into a dead zone to rescue a downed cruise ship and managed to get everyone back out alive might be an arena designer.
The bio-engineer that designed the thought activated keyboards might be a trap designer within a game.

These are not bad guys in the standard sense. They are not thugs roaming the back alleys. They are evil.
They are the kind that place people into a game, watch their lingering deaths, then return home to hug their daughters and play football with their sons.

Be careful out there. Being a master of your craft may not be all it's cracked up to be.