On the whole while there's been a ton of great plots and factions and efforts undertaken by both PCs and DMs in the last few months but there has been such an unbelievable focus thrown at "GUILDMASTERS" to degrees that are never even broached in the Peerage on levels of trying to "Get NPCs to do stuff".
Nearly every big Plot push in Ticker has been heavily relied on the DM Guildmasters coming forward and declaring something. (Groat War Ibjavi Vote, Merchant Contract Vote, Lizard Quest, etc).
One cool thing PCs in the past have done is tap PCs here and there to serve as merchant guild guards and etc but a lot of the time bodyguard is pretty boring work. I'd like to crank that idea to 11 and try and cultivate a shift of Ticker's business to create a roster of "Merchants Guild Regulars" The idea of Guild Contractors help push Professional Mercenary RP in different directions and give the Merchant's Guild more involvement for fringe PCs and more potential for pursuits without reliance on DM involvement as it would give more face time with Guildmembers and similar.
Think of it as a sort of Guild Certification in which mercenaries, investigators, traders, hunters, prospectors, or basically almost any Ticker PCs could find themselves openly supported and stamped by the Merchant Guild with a approval as being
Registered and Approved by the Guild.
This changes things as then Mercenary PCs who are less stressful and less invested/involved "Guild Regulars" can find regular work as-
Quote1) Butchers, Builders, and Non-Guild PCs know who and where to go for small scale RP help for questing, exploration, small scale or starter merchants, bodyguards for meetings or just general need of a mercenary type RP.
2) Official Merchant Guild Members PCs don't have to shoulder such an individual burden of paying out of pocket and endless "Recruiting and Hiring Meetings" as that's such a huge drain on any PC pursuit but still have uniformed and recognizable Guild Assistant PCs they can turn to for help in Guild matters in exchange for favors, discounts in their shops, or other negotiated perks.
3) DMs can then use NPCs to approach proactive, popular, or successful Regulars for DM events, quests, or larger plots as "Elite Mercenary" status. Then if PCs want to parlay that into Mercenary Captain Stronghold or trying to get any other property or perks from through IC effort for Guildmembers/Guildmasters is a possibility.
I guess on the whole i'd like to try this as an experiment to flesh things out more in Ticker for Non Merchants but also make things more GUILD and less MERCHANT focused among the Merchant's Guild as not everyone enjoys playing merchant type PCs but there's so much fun auxiliary RP that can go into such a pursuit.
If you're interested feel free to hit me up.