A special note on Plagiarism: ALWAYS GIVE CREDIT if you plan on using part or the whole of this guide! Thank you. Also, as a general reminder, I'd like to inform anyone reading this guide and seeking to create a clan that this guide will NOT teach you everything there is to know about leading a succesful clan. What I offer is the basics in getting started, and a few management tips. So do not think that if you read this guide three times, you're automatically going to be able to create an awesome clan and know everything there is to know. Take the guide for what it is: help for your journey starting/leading a clan. A Guide To Starting and Running A Clan Before we go any further: (Thanks to Guardian XI (From RuneVillage) Think about that. What is your motivation for starting a clan? If it's one of the following: Greed (Items from members, etc.) or power, then do NOT start a clan. It's okay to desire a little power; but that should NOT be your entire basis for starting a clan. A clan is a group of people coming together to have fun or achieve something in RuneScape. If you do not abide by this golden rule the best advice I can give you is to not start a clan (Don't kid yourself either). Another quick note: While some may dismiss 90% of this guide as "common sense" or say that this guide is useless because leading is an inherent ability that cannot be taught, they're missing the point- this guide is here to help beginners who have no clue as to what they're doing. What may seem like "common sense" to us now may not be so apparent to someone who's starting a clan for the first time. Of course this guide also can't teach people how to lead but that's not what it was created for: it's here to help the newbies who need a plan, if you will, to get started. Note: This is not a recreation of cspace's clans guide, but an entirely new one written by me. Cspace's Guide: Here Table of Contents: I. The Cold Truth (Reputation)* II. Introduction III. Getting Started IV. Early Members V. Recruitment VI. General Tips* VII. Running Your Clan (Leadership)* VIII. The Clan Bank (Economy) IX. WAR! X. Assuming Leadership Of A Clan XI. Patience* XII. Interview (With Sting, Leader Of Phoenix) XIII. Interview (With Livinlarge21, Leader Of RSD) XIV. User-Submitted Advice *-Denotes a key section. While every section in this guide is important, these sections should be read a bit more carefully. If you are starting a clan, don't just skim this guide in two minutes; take your time. You'll have plenty of time to recruit, but if you mess up it could make your clan look like another one that just walked in from Lumbridge. Same goes for people looking to improve various aspects of an already established clan. I. The Cold Truth (Reputation)* Now, in a perfect world, your RS/PKing skills shouldn't matter when people decide to join your clan. The fact is, however,if you have not lead a clan before, or do not have a good reputation (Good PKer, nice stats, etc.) your clan is VERY likely to fail; because few people will join/take your clan seriously . So to prevent a disaster from happening, wasting your time and that of others, here are a few things you should do before you decide to start and lead a clan: -First, ask yourself this question: Do I have a good reputation, am I a well known, liked member of RS and this community/forum (Depending on where you recruit)? Well, if you answered yes, then you're off to a good start; if no then you need to be able to say yes to the next question -Do I have good stats for the type of clan I want to set up (ie. I want to set up a level 90+ PKing clan, so I should probably be a level 110+ PKer), or have led another clan before (One that didn't fail miserably)? Now, if you've answered no to both of these questions, the best advice I can give you is to NOT start a clan. What I recommend you do instead is to join the best clan within your league, and watch what the leaders do within that clan. In the meantime also be sure to raise your stats. Once you feel confident that you have a good reputation and good stats, then you're a lot more likely to succeed at creating and running a clan. I am not trying to scare anyone off with this section, and by all means, if you have a good idea of how to run a clan then good luck. Just be aware that it's a lot better to get a strong reputation or set of skills (ie. By joining another clan and staying in it for a while); and then start a clan, rather than the other way around. II. Introduction So, you want to start a clan :?: ? Or you want a clan of yours to work better, attract more members, and in general be a feared and respected clan across the entire world of RuneScape? If so, get comfortable and pay attention; because if you're a newbie or intermediate in the clan world you'll (Hopefully) get some good tips to help you and your clan. Well, some of you may be clamoring and waiting to criticize my "poor" advice (Remember, this is advice that worked in my own experiences, or knowledge I have gained from mistakes, and also general guidelines that EVERY one should follow), so on to the guide! III. Getting Started Nowadays, it seems like any half-wit with a keyboard can create a clan and attract one or two members, but if you're going to have a full functioning clan you'll need some general guidelines and help: Clan Type: Before you do ANYTHING, you need to first think of what kind of clan you want. Here are some types to consider: 1.) PKing. Pretty self-explanatory, PKing clans revolve around Player-Killing in RS. PKing clans are currently the most common type of RS clan because they're easy to set up, they revolve around the most interesting aspect of RS and they're fairly easy to run (A couple leaders, some active members who PK often and you're pretty much done). Not everything, however, is great about PK clans. In general you'll often have to deal with other PK clans' insults, animosity and a higher amount of spies than with other clans. Well, this is all my opinion but I do recommend that you go for making a PK clan if: A.) You love PKing and want to lead people in the wilderness, B.) You want to be reasonably or greatly involved with alliances, enemies, and war and C.) You don't mind the occasional or often insult (Depending on who you are, and if you incite other clans). 2.) Skills-based. This is the second most common type of RS clan. Please note that there are two types of skills-based clans: All-rounder, and clans that are devoted to two skills (Usually complimentary, such as mining/smithing, fishing/cooking, etc.) Skills-based clans are harder to run in general. Unless you have fun skill-raising events (Which are harder to coordinate and setup compared to PK trips) it's hard to stay active in RS. Skills-based clans when run correctly and efficiently, however, can help everyone to gain experience in certain skills or have fun. They can also provide a great sense of accomplishment. In general, skills-based clans are not meant for the glitz and glamour of winning wars and having lots of alliances. I recommend this type of clan if you're A.) Looking for a sense of great accomplishment, B.) Seeking to raise your RS skills or use your non-combat skills in a more social setting and C.) Not concerned with allies, enemies or war. 3.) The "We don't know exactly what we are" clan. This clan is usually a mix of skills-based/PKing clans, but it can be anything RS related. If there was a general description of this clan type it'd be, "We PK a bit, but we also have fun events or help each other raise skills". These can also be known as "fun" clans. "We're a group of friends who relax and have lots of special events." I'd recommend this type of clan if: You want to combine certain aspects of PKing/Skills-based clans, and don't want to be bound to either type. Nowadays most PKing clans have evolved into this type of clan; they have plenty of different events, although some hardcore PK-only clans remain. 4.) Fan-based. These clans are so rare, I've only seen one. Self-explanatory, these are clans focused on something non-RS related. They often aren't involved in RS (No events, PK trips, etc.) I would recommend this clan if: You really like something non-RS related (Such as skateboarding), and you want to talk about this with other RS players/RS forum members. Well, that's it for the main types of RS clans. Before we move on I just want to say, however, if none of these types of clans really interests you don't be afraid to create another type of RS clan! Be creative- maybe you want a clan that thinks of new special events and then hosts them, or maybe you want a clan that helps new RS players. Whatever it is, be creative and think of a new clan type if said ones don't appeal to you. The Name: Once you're done choosing your clan type you should move onto naming the clan. So many promising clans are killed because of a poor or unoriginal name. While some may blow this process off you should take the time to pick a good name for your clan. Here are some steps you should follow for critiquing a possible name: 1.) Does everyone know the meaning of the name? (ie. Shimpu is a Japanese word that means "Divine Wind"; but it's not in common usage, and everyone does not know the meaning of it). If not, try a different name. 2.) Avoid usage of the word "l33t" or any ̢̢̮ââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Ål33t̢̢̮ââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ