Othob, you're right about strikes... It looks like I haven't played for too long.
But there's a problem : if they mandate more jobs, it means they have less than they wanted. This can mean they're greedy, or too numerous for the number of jobs you can offer, but it can mean you just don't need them.
So if a strike is just them not doing jobs for X days, if you don't need them, it won't be a problem.
The same is true if you need them, but for some reason mandate jobs done. If they're active in your fortress, it won't be much of a problem, since you always need jobs done.
Except if they take the average amount of work they have spread on a season, add some more and let you a season to fulfill the mandate. For instance, let's say 685 is the average number of crafts made in a season. The Craftdwarves Guild won't mandate 25 jobs made, but 685+25 = 710 in a season, forcing you to have a constant challenge keeping your craftdwarves at work.
If fulfilled, the mandate would have set the average a little higher, reflecting the wish for the guild to be always more efficient (which is quite dwarfy). If not, they go on strike and you're pretty much screwed, because you need them.
This is on topic, because mandates are a GM ability.
In any case a guild must be composed of several members. 7 or 10 seems good to me. I mean that anyway, even with a total skill point, there will be a real guild.
Granite26, unwanted guilds are good for me. Anyway they'll die if they're not useful, or you can organize an "accident". But other players may think of it as a nuisance. But if discussing about your ideas, I think total points are quite dangerous. If a jeweler gets legendary due to a mood, and there's 10 novice jewelers in the fortress, the moody one will get GM. Meaning if you don't want the guild, you'll have to kill a dwarf you had a hard time getting out of a mood.
I think I remember talking about asking for help from other guilds in other fortresses in the other thread, let's take it there, as it doesn't really belong here.
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I had another idea for House Rash, but I'm honestly not sure of it. Toady will probably want to keep it separate from guilds if they ever come back in. Yet, many clerical schools taught how the body was made and some were in secret learning to their students how to become assassins and selling them after as bodyguards for important personalities.
- Handlers of the Dead - House Rash (Death) - no color - Could enable murders. There would be, on the unit list, a way to mark a dwarf for assassination, if he is too embarassing. This would have a cost that would be transfered from the fortress to the House coffers.
In the civilisation panel, you could also command the death of someone important.
The cost would depend on the danger from the target and its importance (reflecting his protection). A demon would be very hard to kill, so it would cost very much. Also, success is not warranted. If caught, the murderer would be judged as a criminal (probably death). Sending him to murder an enemy would allow said enemy to torture him and get informations from him.