CREATING YOUR OWN CLAN
THE WORLD OF THE CLANS
Nomad families, sedentary farmers, tribes: they all count as Clans. If a Player decides to play a Clanner, he has a world of choices. There are thousands out there. The Player can choose from among the tribes (see Chapter 10, “From Hell”), or he and the Game Master can use their creativity and invent a new Clan. The following paragraphs provide some ideas on how to do that. If you are feeling brave, you can also let the dice decide: all suggestions are provided with dice numbers.
Each paragraph lists a Skill. These Skills replace those that you would otherwise take from the list of Cults. If you roll or choose the same Skill several times, the Cult bonus stays at (+1)—the Player or Game Master should look for another Skill that also makes sense.
TECHLEVEL 1d6
How advanced is the Clan? Does it have a firm grasp on technology and sciences, or does it sacrifice a bowl of milk at the ancestors’ stone after a thunderstorm?
1: TECH I:
The Clanners wander the land in extended families as hunters and gatherers. They use simple tools made from bones, stones, wire, and planks. They watch the Cults with distrust, fear the Chroniclers, and consider the Judges’ muskets the stuff of demons.CULT-BONUS: (INS) Survival
2-3: TECH II:
The families have become sedentary, harvesting tubers and tending herds. They hide behind palisades or walls and live in simple huts. Warriors and shamans are no longer the most important people within the Clan. Artisans and merchants are respected for their contributions, too. Traditions are kept alive.CULT-BONUS: (BOD) Stamina
4: TECH III:
The smithies are working day and night producing everyday household items, as well as rifles and cannons. Culture has become more central: people discuss theological and philosophical questions. The importance of morals and ethics trickles into people’s minds.CULT-BONUS: (AGI) Crafting
5: TECH IV:
At night, the chains of light burn in the settlements; the generators rumble. Electrical capacitors simplify life, and nobody would want to miss them. The Chroniclers are still awe-inspiring, but no one considers them gods anymore.CULT-BONUS: (INT) Engineering
6: TECH V:
The Clan has survived centuries hidden away without waking the Cults’ covetousness. Its ancestors had thought of everything, had stored knowledge and technical equipment. Bygone thinking machines direct the daily schedule, monitoring the family members’ performance.CULT-BONUS: (CHA) Conduct
WORLDVIEW 1d6
What does the Clan believe? How does it see the world and humankind’s place in it?
1-2: ANIMISM:
There are demons and spirits in every stone and every tree. Omens and evil portents direct the daily schedule. These Clanners are frightened souls fleeing from the supernatural din to the light of campfires. They worship their ancestors and ask for their help with small sacrifices. Shamans direct every action, judging and condemning. Usually not found in combination with a Tech Level > III.CULT-BONUS: (INT) Legends
3-4: THEISM:
God created the world. What could be more important than the teachings of his prophets? Laws are based around religious dogmas; heretics are banned from the community or severely punished.CULT-BONUS: (PSY) Faith/Willpower
5: ENLIGHTENMENT:
Faith becomes a personal worldview. Priests do still exist, but man is now the center of the community. The Bygone teachings are considered truths; the old books are venerated and examined. There is a lively culture of discussion.CULT-BONUS: (CHA) Negotiation
6: WORLDLY, RATIONAL:
Faith in God is superstition. The Clanners know the cycle of nature and have accepted evolution as the only true theory. Rarely found in combination with Tech Level I.CULT-BONUS: (INT) Science
FORM OF GOVERNING 1d6
Who rules the Clan, and what does that mean?
1-2: RULE OF A SINGLE PERSON:
One Clanner rules the family as autocratic leader. He can be a Chieftain, a tyrant, or a monarch. He may let his oldest son inherit his office and thus found a dynasty. He commands soldiers who stop every uprising as soon it begins.CULT-BONUS: (PSY) Cunning
3-4: RULE OF THE FEW:
A supposed elite dissociates itself from the rest of the Clan with its clothing, training, weaponry, or sex. They choose a leader from amongst themselves. Those who are not born into this ruling caste have no possibility of getting ahead.CULT-BONUS: (PSY) Deception
5-6: RULE OF MANY:
All Clanners have the same rights and vote on distribution of land, military campaigns, etc. They elect officials to judge and rule. Everything happens in the name of the Clan.CULT-BONUS: (CHA) Negotiation
CULTURAL IDENTITY 1d6
What is important to the Clan? Where does it see its roots? How does it remember the past that they have moved on from?
1: IMPORTANT HOLY SITES:
A sacred site where ancestors are buried, a stele with inscriptions, a cliff of sacrifice, the battlefield where the Clan won its greatest victory or suffered its worst defeat: these places are worshipped and prominent in rituals. Even Clans with a rational worldview see them as part of their cultural heritage.CULT-BONUS: (INS) Orienteering
2-3: FOUNDING PLACE:
Centuries ago, survivors of the Eshaton gathered in a misty valley and decided to trek on together. Everything began here. The Clan’s cradle does not have to be a real place, but is often a mystical part of a religious world view: The Clan came from an egg, was thrown to the earth by lightning, or rose from a lake.CULT-BONUS: (PSY) Faith/Willpower
4: TEXTS:
Knowledge of the past carries the Clan through a stormy world. It worships the old texts, and every generation adds new books to the collection.CULT-BONUS: (CHA) Expression
5-6: LEGENDARY LEADER:
The Clan remembers a great hero. He led the people to the Promised Land or vanquished the greatest menace. Every young Clanner will have to compete with his heroic deeds.CULT-BONUS: (BOD) Melee
SIZE 1d6
Do only a handful people gather around the elder, or do thousands raise their fists to the sky when he sounds the call to battle? How large is the Clan?
1: FAMILY:
One, maybe two dozen people, all related. The blood has grown thin. Those who want to marry look for a bride or groom in an allied family or a city.CULT-BONUS: (BOD) Toughness
2-3: EXTENDED FAMILY: The Clan consists of more than 100 people, all of whom want food. Everyone has a job to do, and laziness is punished harshly. Competition is a part of life even for the youngest: no one wants to go get water or empty the latrines. The older ones fight for leadership. Only good organization and time-honored rules can keep the extended family together.
CULT-BONUS: (PSY) Cunning
4-5: LOCAL POWER:
Somehow, all are related to each other, either by marriage, by abduction, or by blood. Suddenly, it is important if a Clanner comes from the line of the leader’s brother or is descended directly from the ancestor himself.The Clan’s lands and holdings are vast, but still it is constantly on the lookout for new places to settle - there must always be more space for the family.
CULT-BONUS: (CHA) Leadership
6: TRIBE:
Many big Clans have melded together, be it through negotiation, necessity, or conquest. Fights for power take place on a daily basis. A large tribe always poses a threat to other Cults and Clans as it expands into foreign domains, not every member of the tribe can behave.CULT-BONUS: (CHA) Negotiation
RESOURCES 1d6
What makes the Clan rich? Does it control valuable resources or steal from other Clans and Cults?
1-2: CATTLE:
The Clan has rich hunting grounds; herds of mammoths or cattle wander through its territory; boars and deer hide in the thicket of the woods. Sedentary Clans build houses on the lakeshore or next to a river that is rich in fish or trilobites, while others break open mud vents, harvest insects, and roast them.CULT-BONUS: (INS) Taming
3: MINES:
Tunnels cut deep into hills and mountainsides: Clanners drag coal, niter, or other minerals out from the depths of the earth that are then traded to Justitian or another city.CULT-BONUS: (BOD) Force
4: RUIN FIELD:
The Clan has settled down in the ruin field and has been exploiting it for centuries. There are conflicts with Scrappers on a daily basis.CULT-BONUS: (INT) Artifact Lore
5: BUNKER:
The Clan lives in an ancient bunker, feeding from its centuries-old provisions and armed with Bygone rifles.CULT-BONUS: (AGI) Projectiles
6: RAID:
The Clan survives by raiding farms and convoys. The Cults will be unable to tolerate this for much longer, something must be done.CULT-BONUS: (AGI) Mobility
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