Creating your Clan and Region will be done in several steps, with both the players and the GM having input.  However, the GM gets go first in each step (if he or she wants to), and exert their influence as much or as little as he or she thinks he needs to. This should probably be considered ahead of time, so that at each Step you can inform your players of what you've already decided, and work with them to fill the blanks in.

The GM of course has the power to veto any suggestion, but we suggest being liberal with this unless you think it'll detract from play.

Step 1: Scope
First, you need to decide the Scope of your Clan, as the term is purposefully ambiguous. We assume a "Clan" refers to the Adventurers (The PCs!) and those that support and depend on them, but the scale of that can mean lots of different things.  Is your Clan one of several Guild-like Organizations that functions within a larger City State? Is your Clan a Town or Village, dependent on you for supplies and protection? Is it a Merchant Caravan that travels from place to place?

This Step is often one that the GM might decide on his or her own ahead of time, but if not, feel free to have a discussion about it until you come to a consensus (but the GM should be ready to step in and make some calls if you can't!).

Then to finish this Step, you need a Name appropriate to the Scope, whether that be "Clan Nutsy" or "Tipa Village".

Step 2: Topography
You've decided on the Scope, but now we need to decide what the place your Clan inhabits is LIKE! If your Clan travels around, you can either skip a lot of these steps, or go through them to decide what your "Home Base" is like, if you have one.

So first, what's the Topography that your Clan is sitting on like? Is it on top of a grassy hill? Are you on a large Sky Island? On top of a Volcano? In a Valley?

If your Clan is part of a larger City, what's your city district like? What districts neighbor yours?
Step 3:  The Region

Alright, here's where the fun really begins! Each player (including the GM) should suggest a location, habitat, or point of interest that lies within the range of stable topography close to your Clan.  This represents the exploration efforts of previous adventurers or the town's scouts, and would be common knowledge to those living in your Clan! This can include not only locations, but could also cover strange weather or topological phenomena that occasionally occur in the region.

These should be very general directives, but that doesn't mean they can't be fantastical or complex. Here's some examples, ranging from simple to more involved.

Examples!
- The town sits on the edge of a vast lake
- There's a dark and overgrown forest to the south.
- The west is covered in rocky, winding hills.
- There's a thick jungle filled with pits of gently steaming water.
- The town is occasionally pelted by pumpkin-sized pieces of hail; often animals are frozen in this hail.
- There's a deep, wide pit to the east. It's seemingly bottomless, but floating rocky debris floats and above the pit.

If it helps at this stage, draw out a rough map!

Step 4: Rumors

Now it's time to introduce some Rumors into the setting! These can be very broad, and may not necessarily have any fact behind them (and they may be treated as rumors or as fact in-game either way!), but still, they should affect how common folk in the region think and act. Each player now has the chance to introduce a rumor into the setting.

Examples
- The forest to the south is full of carnivorous plants!
- Jon the Town Drunk used to be an Adventurer for another Clan.
- There's humanoid skeletons made of raw iron buried in the rocky hills to the west.
- The night is ruled by malevolent spirits. Those who go out in the dead of night become Nightsick and shortly die.
- There's a secretive Clan living in the jungle that practices Human sacrifice!
- There's a Spirit looking out for our clan. You can sometimes see it looking over the town from the top of the clock tower on full moons.
- The frozen animals that sometimes fall on the town are the work of malevolent ice spirits that plot doom and destruction upon us.


Step 5: Abudances & Problems

Now, based on eeeeeverything else, you should have a pretty good image of what your Clan and its lands are looking like.




Step 6: Story Elements

Before you can get to this part, your players need to have finished their characters!






Morale, Population, Resources
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
+ Morale: Entertainer, Cleric, (Merchant), (Soldier)
+ Population: Farmer, Healer, (Soldier), (Gatherer)
+ Resources: Craftsman, Scholar, (Merchant), (Gatherer)
+ Other: Adventurer, Laborer,  Government
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Abundance:
Problem:
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Adventurers: This includes anyone that braves the wilderness for the benefit of the clan. This includes monster-slayers, explorers, cartographers, or scouts. In settings where your Clan is part of a larger society, this also represents spies, enforcers, or others who manipulate that society for the benefit for your Clan. An abudance of Adventurers can signify a specific competence; a problem can signify a specific incompetence, but can also signify that you are being harrased or infiltrated by outside forces. Adventurers are diverse and can be linked to any of Morale, Population, or Resources.

Entertainers: Enterainters include performers and colorful characters of all kinds. Actors, acrobats, dancers, musicians, poets, artists - yes, all these and more. An abudance of Enterainers can signify a rich creative culture or tradition within your Clan. A problem can signify that perhaps things are too serious to spare much time or resources for levity, or that you're too isolated for creative types to visit much. Or it could even signify a deeper cultural distrust of such levity.  Entertainers are usually linked to Morale.

Clerics: Clerics represent Priests, Monks, and any attendants who dedicate themselves to the upkeep of shrines, idols, and temples. An abundance of Clerics can represent a particular sense of Community within your clan or favor from the Spirits. A Problem with Clerics could  signify an oppresive or gloomy religious presence, or even a curse or blight caused by offending a Great Spirit. Clerics are usually linked to Morale.

Merchants: Merchants represent anyone that moves or distributes goods, or maintains an establishment or shop. This includes traders, vendors, butchers, delivery services, innkeeps, grocers, spicers, storage keepers, harbormasters, and shop-keepers. An abundance of merchants can signify economic prosperity, or perhaps that your Clan attracts trade throughout the region for one particular good or service. A problem usually signifies some sort of economic problem or lack of variety in goods. Merchants are usually linked to Morale or Resources.

Soldiers: Includes any sort of military presence, guardsmen, investigators, jailers, or executioners. An abudance could mean your Clan is particularly well defended, or has an effective troop of guardsmen. A problem could signify lax defenses, ineffective or corrupt Guardsmen, or even a killer or creature that roams your Clan lands and has been unable to be caught by your soldiers.  Soldiers are usually linked to Population or Morale.

Farmers: This includes not only farmers, but also bee-keeprs, ranchers, and herdsmen; basically anyone involved in sustainable food production. An abundance is usually pretty obvious; food for everyone! A problem can signify unfertile or unsuitable lands, pests, or a lack of variety of healthy foods being provided to your clan. Farmers are usually linked to Population.

Healers: Includes apothecaries, physicians, midwives, surgeons, and others who preserve the health of your Clan. An abundance usually signifies a particular competence, while a Problem could signify that you don't have enough trained individuals to meet the demands, or you lack the proper supplies, or even the presence of a plague or parasite that is overwhelming your healers. Healers are usually linked to Population.

Scholars: This includes accountants, astrologers, architects, inventors, librarians, scribes, teachers, tutors, and researchers of all sorts. An abudance could signify a rich tradition of scholarship, a wide base of available knowledge, or even the presence of a particular unique invention or feat of scholarship. A problem can represent a fairly uneducated population, a limit or distrust of scholarship, or a particularly rustic or "basic" society. Scholars are usually linked to Resources.

Gatherers: This includes anyone that gathers or manages raw natural resources, such as fishermen, foresters, herbalists, hunters, miners, stonecutters, and woodcutters. An abundance of Gathers could mean your Clan has a particular stockpile or trading advantage with a particular resource. A problem signifies the lack of a vital resource, such as a lack of wood for firewood and construction. Gatherers are usually linked to resources or population.

Crafsmen: : This includes any craftsmen who refine goods, such as bakers, builders, carpenters, cobblers, cooks, jewelers, masons, smiths, or tailors. An abundance of Craftsmen could signify your Clan is known for particular luxury goods or services, while a problem could signify your Clan hasn't progressed to the level of skilled producers yet, or face problems keeping them employed or well-supplied. Craftsmen are usually linked to Resources.

Laborers:  This includes all forms of unskilled laborers not included elsewhere, often hard or manual labor, and often represent the bottom rung of society. This includes carters, messengers, maids, potboys, prostitutes, servants, slaves, trash collectors, and others. A "problem" could also signify a presence of low criminal elements such as bandits, charlattans, or thieves.

Government:  This includes both anyone that works directly for the government or IS the government. This includes elected offials, nobility, and any that work under them such as clerks, messengers, and tax-collectors. An "Abundance" means the Government is efficient or benevolent, while a problem could signify a corrupt, brutal, incompetent, wasteful, or lazy government or important official.