Retainers

Category:	Backgrounds
Reference:	Vampire: The Masquerade (Revised edition/WW2300), page 133.

Retainers are servants, assistants, or loyal and steadfast companions in general. Often, a vampire's retainers will be ghouls, because the bond ensures their loyalty and the powers they inherit aren't too shabby either. Still, sometimes they'll instead be people who the vampire has Dominated the free will entirely out of, or who've been rendered fanatically loyal via Presence. For those with Animalism, animal ghouls could be used as retainers. Those without handy methods like vitae or Disciplines will have to use other ways to ensure loyalty and control over their retainers, such as, say, a salary. Retainers aren't unconditionally loyal — if you're too cruel to them and don't have suitable control, they may turn on you.

While they're obviously quite useful, retainers are not supposed to be invincible bodyguards, unstoppable assassins, or other similarly overpowered things. This background should be used in the service of more fully-developed characters, and to represent the Renfields, Igors, and Jeeveses that come standard with certain archetypes.

x :	None.
• :	One retainer.
•• :	Two retainers.
••• :	Three retainers.
•••• :	Four retainers.
••••• :	Five retainers.

Available to:

All.