Clan Traits

The definition of a clan is vague. Your clan is the group of people you spend most of your time with. Your clan could be your family, a platoon of soldiers, a ship's crew, a band of thieves, a merchant guild, a league of combat bakers, etc…

They are the people who will help you complete your objectives, and conversely, who will require things from you.

Either through pact, shared history or a necessity to survive, your clan has incorporated a community of Xenos. The two groups live together functionally, and probably have some unique advantages over 'pure' clans. Such a community is going to have some equally unique needs to keep functioning however, and it may be up to you to provide them.

You have a number of Zwegwinn, Phytarin, Hareppi or Kar'Baldi in your clan. Describe the relationship, and what the main benefit they provide is. You may take this trait multiple times if you want multiple races in your clan. Note that you have to take the personal trait if you want to play a Xenos.

Your clan has attracted the attention of something inhuman and powerful. It could be a ghost, an alien creature such as a Stone Man, a voice in their heads or something else entirely. This patron demands your clan's worship (or at least their respect), and grants you a portion of its power in return. Perhaps it makes your warriors stronger, or your crops grow plentifully. Patrons are powerful, but demanding. Woe betide you if you fail to fulfill its wishes.

This trait gives your clan a unique boon in Health, Wealth or Happiness, depending on the nature of the patron. When taking this trait, give us a rough idea of what the Deity is, and how specifically it helps your clan. We'll need to work with you to come up with something that fits the setting.

Your clan is huge. Really huge. Far too many people to remember the name of, and an awful lot of mouths to feed. How your clan became so big is an important question: did you adopt some orphans you found on a rock? Could your great granny just not think of anything better to do on rainy afternoons? Having a large family means more work coordinating people and keeping everyone alive. However, it means you've got a lot of help in Getting Things Done.

This trait makes tasks requiring unskilled labour much easier, as long as you can coordinate people. Note that only your closest clan members will benefit from other traits. If you took the Professionals trait, this does not give you four times as many craftsmen.

Your clan has the equipment or the knowhow to put up one hell of a fight. They could fight with the discipline of a well oiled machine, or the brutality of a well oiled barbarian. You aren't raiders, though you might have been once, and people will likely be wary of you. It might be also be a struggle to stop your clan kicking off however. If all you have is a hammer…

This trait provides an upgradeable Health boon for your clan, and you should do better than average if it comes to large scale combat. This is the starting point if you want raise an army. Your clan also puts greater weight on military matters.

Pick a mundane trade your clan excels at. Perhaps they build homes that last, forge steel that doesn't bend, or bake cookies that taste better than sin? Whatever it is, it will be in demand, and as long as you can keep doing it, you will be a popular bunch. However, guard that cookie recipe closely, because the more people who know how to do what you do, the less valuable you are.

This trait provides an upgradeable Wealth boon for your clan in the form of a specialized craft skill. It will give you something to trade with other families and better assistance at appropriate tasks. It will also give you Plot to improve the trade (find better tools and materials, or fulfill some eclectic work orders.

Note that the skill is highly specialised. You cannot use this trait to give your clan a general skill boost. It must be in a very specific trade or profession, outside of which your clan are as talented as the next.

Your clan has things. Lots of things. Lots of useful things that other people need. Either you brought supplies with you from your last home, or you happened upon something valuable when you got here. This could be a ranch of useful beasts, a coal mine, or a secret blend of 11 herbs and spices.

This trait will give you something valuable to trade or work with, that will not be readily available to the other clans. It must take effort to exploit the resource (mining more ore, training more animals), and it will generate plot revolved around protecting and enhancing that resource (breeding a better animal, mining too deep…). Your clan also puts greater weight on wealth and trade, increasing your clan Wealth tally has a greater effect on your influence.

Members of your clan are seers, priests or scholars with dark powers, the ear of the Gods, or secret knowledge about the true nature of the universe… or so you claim. Whether what’s behind the blood, feathers and bubbling cauldrons is truly a Dark Power, or just a very good telescope, you're able to predict the future better than most.

Your clan has utter faith in your seers, giving it focus. Outside the clan, you have a valuable job predicting threats to your colony and telling people how to stop them. You'd better be on the money though, or you may find people stop listening to your advice.

This trait provides an upgradeable Happiness boon for your clan in the form of a mystic hierarchy. It also provides you some means of divination, and a reason for people (NPCs at least) to listen to you. This is a good trait to take if you want to be a leader, though it will take a lot of work in confirming your predictions.

When taking this trait, give us a rough idea of *how* your clan scrys and we'll work with you on it. Is it through a magical ritual, or some strange device? Either way, you won't fully understand how you do it, and part of your plot will be figuring it out/keeping it working.

Your clan is responsible for an important structure or system. This could be a smithy, school, hospital, mill, theme park, temple to the gods, irrigation system, watch tower network, library, quarry, or any number of things. Since the move to the new world, you've had to leave behind an awful lot of the infrastructure, but your clan have the knowledge, staff and elbow grease to rebuild something specially valuable.

This trait provides an upgradeable Health, Wealth or Happiness boon for your clan. Like resources, it gives you something valuable to barter with. It will require effort to set up and maintain however.

Your clan are naturally charismatic. No matter what they are up to, it will be portrayed in a good light. Alternatively, they are tight lipped or know the penalty for blabbing about what you've got in the basement. In some way, you are doing a good job of appearing to be something different to what you are.

This trait is useful if you have a dark secret, or plan that you don't want others to find out about. It will make it harder for other families to spy on you, and you will have some control over the rumours they hear about you.

On occasion you will be called upon to help maintain the illusion, such as arranging an elaborate misdirection, or hunting down a loose lipped traitor.

Your clan stands united. Perhaps a past tragedy has formed tight bonds between the lot of you. Perhaps you have a religious symbol you are unified in your devotion to. With this loyalty has come self reliance, and your clan operates like the proverbial well oiled machine.

This trait provides an upgradeable happiness boon for your clan in the form of a mystic hierarchy. It also means they are less likely to cause you trouble, or ask you for help (they handle their own problems). You can more easily manipulate your clan, if you can manipulate the thing that binds them together.

Around 30 years ago the Mists Boiled, causing widespread destruction. Your clan was hit worse than most, had something very valuable stolen away, and has never quite recovered. This could be the keys to your holy temple, or the temple itself. It could be your stockpile of gemstones, or every last one of your menfolk.

This trait gives you a penalty to your clan Health, Wealth or Happiness tally due to something essential and almost irreplaceable being lost. It'll be somewhere out there in the broken world, and its up to you to find it.

Something incredibly fundamental is missing in your clan. Perhaps the crops keep failing, you are reduced to living in a smelly cave, or you only have one pair of trousers between the lot of you. This is not something that can be trivially rectified, and your family will be neither happy nor productive until it is.

This trait gives you a penalty to the clan Wealth tally, and will require you to fix it. It will require bartering with other PCs and a significant effort. What’s more, your enemies will be able to exploit this weakness until it’s fixed. We reserve the right to veto weaknesses that will be too easy for you to fix.

For some reason your clan are distrusted as Them Over There. This may be a misunderstanding on arrival at the fragment, or an unfortunate hereditary deformity. If a sheep dies, you probably did it. If the storms destroy everyone and everything your neighbour ever loved in a pandemonious apocalypse, you again. You find it really hard to impress people, and get the respect you deserve for your achievements.

This trait gives you a penalty to the clan Happiness tally. Besides getting blamed for everything, this trait will make it difficult for your clan to work or ally with others. Even if other PCs trust your PC, it'll take significant effort to get the two clans to do anything other than fight… Until you've fixed things.

Something you do is not likely to make you popular. Perhaps you believe in virgin sacrifices. Perhaps your skills lie in slavery or poison. Perhaps it is a sin for your clan to touch soap. Sure what you do is useful, but people aren't going to like you for it.

Your clan will regularly ask you to perform an unsavoury task. This will both take up your time, and bring you into conflict with other clans. If your point of conflict becomes too trivial, we reserve the right for your clan to get more… creative in their requests.

It’s never been the same since Mary said that thing to Sharon. There is something of a feud going on in your clan, and until it’s settled you're going to find it hard to get anything done. What is the root of the conflict, and what’s made it so hard to resolve?

This trait gives you a penalty to the clan Happiness tally. It will take a significant effort to straighten things out, and until it is you will find it difficult to have more than a couple of your clan working on the same task.

Your clan is cursed. Some illness or malady is causing you no end of grief, and it’s not going away. This could be a mundane illness, or something much more outlandish.

This trait gives you a penalty to the clan Health tally. Simple enough, until you find a cure, your clan are going to be fighting wounded. If you would like a magical illness, give us a rough idea of what you would like, and we'll help you with the details. This trait means your clan is weak in Health.

Somewhere along the way, you met some people who didn't like you very much. Thankfully, the nature of the Broken World meant you were away and gone while they were still looking for their pitchforks. Unfortunately, the nature of the Broken World means you'll never know when they will turn back up again. Could this be another branch of your clan you don't get on with?

This allows you describe another branch of your clan who, if they find you, will probably try to kill you. You may use this trait to have a feud with an alien race. Give us a rough idea of the nature of the feud, and we'll help you fill in the details.

Whichever Colony you belong to, they would rather you didn't. Somehow your clan has put their foot in it, and are treated as second class citizens, and by association so are you. Describe what you did, or what you do, that deserves such scorn.

This trait gives you a penalty to your clan Health, Wealth or Happiness tally. It means you are generally lower ranking than the other PCs in your colony and they can order you around.

Nobody understands your pain. Your clan is small or nonexistent. Perhaps it’s just you and your sick grandmother, or seven infant children. Perhaps you are the lone survivor of a pirate raid seeking revenge. Your primary concern should be founding a clan of your own to watch your back.

This trait gives you a penalty to your clan Health, Wealth or Happiness tally. A small clan is a significant disadvantage, as you will need to beg the services of other clans to achieve anything large scale. Unless you can form a strong alliance, you may be very vulnerable. This trait is incompatible with Extended Family.