Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1996 21:32:24 +1000 (EST) From: Timothy Ferguson To: Peter Corless "Founding Your Own Clan" is copyright (c) Tim Ferguson 1997. Excerpted from the work in progress "The Courts of King Arthur", Peter Corless, Editor. (Written for future publication by the Chaosium) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Founding Your Own Clan ---------------------- Players may wish their characters to found clans of the type found here. To do this, they must elevate their family from common chivalry and into the epic nobility who rule Arthur's Britain. Players can only form Minor Clans, as most of the Major Clans are defined by well-established Arthurian literature. To form a minor clan, a Founder (progenitor) must be nominated to the gamemaster by a player, if accepted by the gamemaster, or may be granted as a benefit to a player by the gamemaster after sufficient play. However, you can found a new Minor Clan only if the Founder holds the four requisites of noble position, sufficient Glory, magical/mystical origins and progeny. 1) Characters desiring to found a Clan must either be an independent King or one of Arthur's most powerful Dukes. Few women found dynasties, but those who do must be a Queen or Duchess. 2) The founder must be a knight of superlative quality, or a lady of similarly wide reputation (8,000+ Glory). 3) The clan must include the blood of a mystical individual, usually gained through marriage. Generally this is acquired through an ancestress, usually a giantess or sorceress. Very occassionally the magical nature of the family descends from the male, for example, Kay's father Ector. If the gamesmaster wishes, a sufficiently potent sign or blessing might also serve, for example that of Joseph of Armithea upon the first Grail King. Good guidelines for tracing ancestry to a sufficiently powerful clan is to look for include: - Christian Bibilical associations (such as Joseph of Arimathea, King David, etc.) - Classical Roman or Greek legendary progenitors, such as the Caesars of Rome, Alexander the Great, or a link to Troy. - Pagan, Wotanic, or Heathen gods, heroes, mythical or otherworld lovers. - Relationship to an existing Major Clan of the Arthurian world. 4) The founder must have at least three descendants. It is rare, although not impossible, for a woman to found a Clan of noblemen. The Margretsons of Scotland are a useful example of this. Benefits of a Clan: The Founder does not gain the benefits of the Clan themself, as they are accrued in character creation (at birth) in place of the Family's Gift. All decendents of the founder thereafter live by a Theme which guides the gamesmaster in their storywriting and the player in their characterisation. This Theme must be agreed by the Player and their Gamemaster in advance of character generation. A Minor Clan member gains the following bonuses, each tailored to suit their clan: Minor Clan Benefits 4 points of Statistics. 20 points of skills, broken up into at least four skills. +2 in each of seven traits, representing the philosophy of the family. +1d3 honour. +1d6 in one passion. +1d3 in another, or +2d6 in a directed trait. +1000 glory Gamemasters may rarely permit the creation of a Major Clan, as it requires, among Britons, a king of stature at least equal that of Lancelot, connection to the Holy Blood of the Grail Kings, mystical connections as potent as Merlin and Ygraine and lands as large as, at minimum, Ganis. Should Gamesmasters wish to create foreign Major Clans, they should choose a country of origin, a theme and then design the following bonuses to reflect the clan theme: Major Clan Benefits 5 points of statistics. 25 points in skills +3 in up to seven traits +d6+6 on a passion +d6+3 on another, or a directed trait of +2d6. + 3000 Glory (more if the gamesmaster so decides.) Such other bonuses as the gamesmaster sees as fitting. Such penalties as the gamesmaster sees as fitting. =============================================================================== INSERT: For example, imagine that Sir Servause le Breuse, a knight mentioned in Malory as abhoring violence against men, who gained fame through the hunting of monsters, marries a fae lady, gains her lands and has children, thereby fulfilling all of the requirements for being a Clan Founder. The gamesmaster and player agree on a theme: "Taming the Wild", Spreading Civilisation and Defending it from the Unknown, which reflects what Servause has been doing during his career. His children might gain: 2 points in each of STR and DEX, to reflect his nimblness and the power of his blows. +5 in his favourite weapon, Lance, +5 in Faerie Lore to reflect the tales of his foes his children will know +5 in both Hunting and Awareness to reflect his favourite hobby, and his duty to civilised lands. 1d3 Honour. +1d6 Hospitality, as his habit of not fighting people in in part due to his promise to his hostess, the Lady of the Lake, never to fight Lancelot. +2d6 Merciful (other human beings) +1000 Glory. EXAMPLE TWO: Major Clan, The Merovee. Clovis, lord of the Franks, conquers a huge swath of territory, converts to Christianity, then forcibly converts all of his sujects, creating a huge Catholic state out of warring Frankish tribes. His lands are divided between his four sons, who destroy the state of Burgundy and annex Provence, causing the flight of the Ganis refugees. The longest surviving of these sons, whom also has the westermost territories and claims Ganis, is "Claudas/Claudans" (Chlothar I). In Arthurian Literature he's "King of France" because he eventually absorbs his brothers' lands. Although he's a "villain", he's really not that much different than Arthur himself, his main fault being that if he took an area by force, he didn't forgive those who had stood against him, in the way Arthur did. His main crime was the conquest of Ganis, which is hardly worse than Arthur's conquest of Rome, and his nastiest policy was the imprisonment of Elyzabel, who he considered a spy. His refusal to leave his routed followers to their fate, instead surrendering to Arthur, demonstrates that he had a few meritous qualities. His son is one of the knights who finish the Grail Quest, so the family aren't a line of rogues. Assume now that a player wishes to play Claudan's son Guntram. The G.M. and player agree on the theme "Civilising the Franks". The G.M. accepts the blessings of Clovis and Claudin as sufficient substitute for the blood of the Grail Kings and magical connections. France is quite large, and Clovis mightily glorious, so a clan can be said to exist. The G.M. and player agree that Guntrum gains the following in place of family gift: +2 STR and +3 CON, to show the determination of the family, demonstrated in quest and conquest. +5 Battle, as conquers of France. +5 Religion (Christian) as converters of their people. +5 to both Stewardship and Folk Lore as contientious rulers. +5 Intrigue, because this family produces more Black Sheep than any other. +3 in the Christian Virtues, but also in Worldy and Suspiscious. +d6+6 on Covet (France) (See "Pagan Shore" for this virtue.) +d6+3 on Love (God) +3000 Glory (more if the gamesmaster so decides.) Special: The Clovis dynasty does not practice primogenature, dividing it's lands between the sons evenly. As such, there is no negative modifer associated with being a younger son. Some of these bonuses take into account what the Gamesmaster knows Claudan, and presumably his brother Gurtrum, will do in the future. The addition of literacy takes into account the style of adminstration of the far later Dagobert I, but that's fine. In game terms the nobility in Merovee blood was always there, stemming from Clovis. It is merely expressed by the actions of his descendants, however distant. ==============================================================================