Help:Retainer Merit Design
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The new Retainer system is designed to keep RAW guidelines in place, but offer flexibility to customize the Retainer as well as define the mechanics of each level.
- ●● Retainer: So let's start with a ●● Retainer being the standard.
- Attributes: All at ●● (No chargen dots applied)
- Skills: Allocate as per standard character creation (11/7/4), but no Skill may be over ●●
- Merits: No merits
- ●●● Retainer: As above, plus:
- 4 dots may now be allocated to Attributes, Skills, and Merits (see Merit Restrictions below)
- No single trait can be raised above ●●●
- ●●●● Retainer: As above, plus:
- 3 additional dots (7 total now) may be allocated to Atts, Skills, and Merits (see Merit Restrictions below)
- No single trait can be raised above ●●●●
- ●●●●● Retainer: As above, plus:
- 2 additional dots (9 total now) may be allocated to Atts, Skills, and Merits (see Merit Restrictions below)
- Traits can now be raised to ●●●●●
Using this system should produce a Retainer which can be specialized in a number of ways. It's definitely a case of diminishing returns, but allows for tailoring -- a person could buy a standard ●●● Retainer with Striking Looks ●● without having to sell their first child.
Ghouls do not earn Experience Points.
Merit Restrictions
It's always tempting to buy a Retainer, then have the Retainer Buy Things. To circumvent 'doubling down' on XP expenditures in this way with the 'dot allocation' system in mind, the Merits which are accessible to Retainers will be limited in scope to the following:
- Boxing
- Brawling Dodge
- Danger Sense
- Direction Sense
- Distinctive Voice
- Fast Reflexes
- Fleet of Foot
- Gunslinger
- Language
- Quick Draw
- Status (to represent professional accreditation ONLY)
- Resources (cannot exceed 'parent' character)
- Striking Looks
- Stunt Driver
- Two Weapons
- Weaponry Dodge
Notably absent are the 'social' merits: Allies, Contacts, Fame, as well as Retainer (a Retainer cannot, in turn, spawn more Retainers). Also absent is FS: Kung Fu, to keep the FS options in balance. Boxing, Two Weapons, Gunslinger all offer two attacks, and no more. Additional Merits excluded from this list are by design, not oversight.
Ghouled Retainers
Ghouling a Retainer adds two dots (●●) to the cost.
- They gain the ability to spend Vitae, increase one Attribute, and select two dots of Disciplines as per RAW.
- They gain no other advantages of the dot increase (ghoul surcharge is applied last, not in conjunction with)
- We break the five dot threshold on Retainers for Ghouling purposes
This should allow for truly exceptional ghouls, while making it possible to have a pretty cool ghoul (3 dots + 2 dots) at a palatable cost.
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