Ash and Snow

Clan Creation

As a party, you must collectively agree on the nature of your clan before the game begins.

Clan Culture

Your clan will conform to one of the three major cultures. This culture should be decided by the party and will influence the NPCs, equipment and mounts available to you. It will also define the clan in terms of primary motivations, political situation and starting location.

Elder Clan

Once you have agreed on a culture, the party will then need to decide on an Elder Clan. Your clan will initially be serving under this Elder Clan's monarch. Whether it remains that way will depend on the game itself. The Elder Clan may come with certain expectations for the clans underneath it. For example the Odelag will require that all it's subservient clans outlaw thralldom while the Skelligson clan will encourage thralldom and may expect thralls as tribute.

Clan Identity

Now you create your clan itself. You can of course take on one of the existing ones, though you may also work with the DM to replace an existing one. The clan will need a name, a sigil, a town and a leader. That leader also requires an heir apparent, who will both appear in the story as NPCs.

You may also have some input on particular NPCs within the clan. You might decide on their names, appearances, roles and backstories. The DM has final say and will be the one playing these characters if and when they appear.

Character Creation

Remember the Character Creation rules. Below are some things to consider when making a character.

Homebrew Content

Check the homebrew for PC options. This will include races, backgrounds, feats, items, spells and some subclass options. There are some WIP options you may take, with the understanding that they could change at anytime.

The Clan

Your character will need to have some association with the clan. The most obvious example is to be a member who was born into it. Other options include; having married into the clan, being a thrall, being a former thrall who was granted freedom, being a mercenary who has been hired by someone in the clan, a refugee who was taken in by the clan, a bard or traveler who is visiting or some other association. Regardless, it is important that you are in some way aligned to the clan, even if reluctantly.

Your position in the clan is flexible, you cannot be the Jarl or the Jarl's heir apparent, but you could be a younger child of the Jarl, a lowly thrall and everything in between.

Races and Stereotypes

PCs are generally considered exceptional so you do not have to conform to the stereotypes and archetypes below. You can choose to play a race that is not listed, does not conform to the stereotypes, or doesn't use the race's typical stat blocks (See Custom Lineage from TCE).

Most clans and settlements in the Northlands will have either dwarves, humans or goliaths as its majority race. In each clan or settlement it is uncommon to have a mix of these races as they are distrustful of each other. Some settlements may be more relaxed or may have others as thralls. A notable exception are the clans under the Odelag Clan who notably oppose both thralldom and racial superiority and so often have a great diversity of races.

Dwarves and Gnomes have strong associations with the Litinvr gods and are very common in clans with Dwarven Culture. They are rare in other cultures, except as thralls.

Goliaths, Orcs and other monstrous and giant races are associated with the Storgundr gods and are very common in clans with Goliath Culture. They are rare in other cultures, except as thralls.

Humans and Halflings are often associated with the Imiskr gods, specifically Halvangr who is the supposed ancestor of all humans, and are very common in clans with Human Culture. They are rare in other cultures, except as thralls.

Elves are uncommon in the Northlands and generally disliked, particularly high elves. They are associated with Tontu, the god of the feywilds, often leading to the misconception that all elves are immigrants from the feywild.

Tieflings are rare and associated with Branond, the god of the infernal. Opinions differ greatly on tieflings and fiends in general. Some see them as abominations from another realm, others see them as powerful allies with which to crush their enemies. Tieflings can be of any skin colour.

Aasimar are rare but sometimes mistaken for valkyries, the angelic psychopomps of noble warriors, those who see aasimar with wings unfurled may assume they are already dead. Some have suggested that aasimar are the children of valkyries or exiled valkyries with their memories stolen. Aasimar can have the appearance of almost any medium, humanoid race, except tieflings, most likely that of their mortal parents.

Fenri are rare and almost exclusively exist within the Akalib Clan in Frigan which formed from refugees from Xheros in the south. Naturally they are suspicious to those unfamiliar with them. Some have mistaken them for agents of Yotunna and Kuulun, the Storgundr goddesses of the night and moon.

Changlings are extremely rare. They are associated with Hoffnar, the trickster god.

Other races do exist, but are uncommon and usually unheard of by those who haven't met any.

Backgrounds

Ash and Snow does have a couple of homebrew backgrounds that may interest you. You are not constrained by these however, you may choose a background from a different source.

Religion

The gods are a major part of the culture, and it will be very rare to find anyone who doesn't at least pretend to follow some gods. Casual followers may just generally follow a family of gods, such as Storgundr or Litinvr, more devout followers may choose specific gods to praise and worship.

If you don't find a suitable god to fit your character, talk to me and we can make it work, either by expanding the domains of existing gods or adding new ones.

Terrain

The Northlands mostly features arctic, coast, forest and mountain terrains. I'd recommend choosing one of these for a ranger's favoured terrain, a land druid's circle spells or for any other features based on terrain. Other terrains are less common and desert is none existent.