I was thinking about how most guilds have too many spell slots and too few penultimate abilities and even fewer branching paths, and I thought... why not combine them. Here's the suggestion. Create three NPCs that work a lot like the moon mage guild paths. Just make them simpler and less involved. For 5 spell slots, you can dedicate yourself to their path (like choosing a career) and gain a title and new penultimate ability. Your character can change paths maybe once every 2 RL years. The abilities would all fit a similar theme meant to augment playstyles, one passive (1), one fully active (2), and one that's a mix of the two (3).

Here's a few thoughts on what it would look like:

Guild: Bard
RP Focus: Tying back to the bardic history of sorcery and intermixing with other guilds.
NPCs: Aristocrats representing three houses
--- Hybrid option: Create a backlash absorber (similar to STC in function and location ties, but with an RTR like CD).
--- Passive option: Passive sorcery buff (does not exceed or stack with ECHO).
--- Active option: Unleash like ability.

Guild: Trader
RP Focus: The trader makes a personal addendum to the contract
NPCs: Three negotiants, each offering a different way to utilize starlight.
--- Hybrid option: Warp reality to make the room a night-room. Think rising mist, but with a rift in space/time. Maybe just allow starlight regen while indoors.
--- Passive option: Speculate luck no longer uses concentration, and you can use starlight to fuel speculate coin (think breaking a moonblade to get TKS shards)
--- Active option: Speculate spellname ### - uses starlight + mana to instantly prep & cast a spell you know [straight cast only) (brings back old speculates, in a way. Works with any Aug/Util, non-cyclic spell)

Guild: Warrior Mage
RP Focus: Masters of magical destruction extends to the undead, one of the realms most common sources of danger.
NPCs: Radiation Elementals teach you how to more safely and efficiently use your radiation.
--- Hybrid option: Summon impedance discharges a large portion of your radiation. While you are irradiated, you can hit non-corporeal undead with summoned weapons.
--- Passive option: Dark familiars will pulse slowly and absorb your radiation from you. While the familiar is in the room (and irradiated), non-corporeal undead can be hit with mundane weapons.
--- Active option: When you cast a spell aligned with your element, it discharges a little radition and transfers it to your target. Irradiated undead can be hit with mundane weapons.

Guild: Cleric
RP Focus: You dedicate yourself to a specific god and gain a boon from that god.
NPCS: Priests of specific gods who travel between the altars
Due to the nature of these buffs, they are all passive options. In all three, the light/dark/neutral favor orbs start at 30% full when gaining or givine one via truff's commune or an altar.
--- Dedicate to the light: You can use commune Berengaria [person] to give the effects of Hodierna without a material cost (not yourself). Shares a CD with Hodierna.
--- Dedicate to the dark: You can use commune Asketi to gain the effects of Hodierna without a material cost (yourself only)
--- Dedicate to the grey: If it's raining, you're wet, or you're in water, you can use eluned's first or second commune without a material cost. You are temporarily dried in the process.

Guild: Paladin
RP Focus: Dedicate yourself to an aspect of chadatru
NPCs: Fallen, impoverished, or sainted paladins in various places in the game.
These are a little stronger than the rest, because paladins need... something.
--- Devote to the way (Chadatru's hero - holy knight): Lead is now free, lasts two minutes, and smite extends the duration by 1 minute to a maximum of 2. Thievery is still off the table.
--- Devote to the dark (Boltof's hero - blackguard): Lose access to lead. Smite becomes a backstab-like attack when performed from hidden. Soulstate gaining/losing actions are flipped. Donate coins, lose. Attack from hiding, gain. You want to learn thievery.
--- Devote to the neutral (Rutilor's hero - inquisitor): Soulstate VERY quickly drifts to a steady white hue (Self-actualize because YOU know you're always right). You can learn Thievery (so long as it's directed towards the bad guys - you just get to decide who is bad).