Retainers, Ghouls, and NPCs

Retainers, Ghouls, and NPCs

When I ST, I use this simple House-Rule for retainers, and a version of this for most NPCs:

Retainers have a base dice pool equal to the dots invested in them. If you have a retainer with one dot invested, they have a base dice pool of 1d. If they have two dots invested, they have a base dice pool of 2d.

For tasks that the retainer is an expert at (e.g. lawyer defending you in court): they have a dice pool of +5d.

For tasks that the retainer is moderately competent at (e.g. lawyer cooking you dinner): they have a dice pool of +3d.

For tasks contrary to their character (e.g. wimpy nerd intimidating a bunch of bikers): they have a dice pool of +1d.

It's faster than building a whole sheet. I simply list their name, description and Disciplines. If you want to figure things out like Willpower, you use the same sort of system: make their Willpower rating equal to their base dot investment, plus a number reflective of their personal character and competency (expert +5, moderate +3, or contrary +1). This same system can be used to calculate any difficulty that is supposed to be derived from an NPC's traits.

Basically, a lawyer that's your 1-dot retainer making a legal argument will roll 6d10 (1 base + 5 for being an expert). The same lawyer who's described as moderately wilful will have a Willpower trait of 4 (1 base + 3 for being moderate), which reflects in your retainers personality (wilful characters may not be pushovers for you, but they're neither pushovers for your enemies or opponents).

If the same NPC needs to make a Courage roll, deciding that he's moderately brave, I just do the same thing but divide by two: 2 (1 base + 3 for being moderate, divided by two).

An example of a NPC and simplified character sheet can be found in the next post, code included.

Alice Johnson

Type: Ghoul
Position: Waitress

Alice is a flirtatious Toreador Ghoul living in the Downtown area of New York City, her master is Ryan Peters and Alice just can't stop talking about him. She works nights as a waitress at a local diner named the The Rose Garden.

Character Sheet:

Code:

[url=http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/8150/9p7d.jpg][size=18][b]Alice Johnson[/b][/size][/url]

[b]Type:[/b] Ghoul
[b]Position:[/b] Waitress

Alice is a flirtatious Toreador Ghoul living in the Downtown area of New York City, her master is Ryan Peters and Alice just can't stop talking about him. She works nights as a waitress at a local diner named the The Rose Garden.

[spoiler=Character Sheet][b]Name:[/b] Alice Johnson
[b]Nature:[/b] Conformist
[b]Demeanor:[/b] Sycophant
[b]Generation:[/b] N/A
[b]Domitor:[/b] Ryan Peters

[b]Level:[/b] 1

[b]Disciplines:[/b] Potence 1, Presence 1
[b]Paths:[/b]
[b]Rituals:[/b]

[b]Blood Pool:[/b] 10 (1 bp/turn)

[b]Willpower:[/b] 4
[b]Virtues:[/b] Conscience 3, Self-Control 1, Courage 3

[b]Merits:[/b] Calm Heart, Light Sleeper, Loyalty
[b]Flaws:[/b]

[b]Apparent Age:[/b] 28
[b]Date of Birth:[/b] 16 / May / 1919
[b]Hair:[/b] Blonde
[b]Eyes:[/b] Brown
[b]Race:[/b] White Caucasian
[b]Nationality:[/b] American  
[b]Height:[/b] 5 ' 5 "
[b]Weight:[/b] 52 Kilograms
[b]Sex:[/b] Female  [/spoiler]

The above is an example of a Non-Player Character (NPC) Sheet. It is for a Ghoul.

NPC Level

NPC Level is tiered in the same vein as everything else in Vampire. A level one NPC is treated as a useful, basic NPC, while level two goes a step further and should be considered notably talented. A level three NPC is regarded as superbly talented and excellent in many capacities. A level four NPC enters the realm of amazing, effortlessly garnering admiration at any function. A level five NPC is the very peak of human capacity.

1: a basic, useful NPC. This level is for the average Ghoul and helpful retainer.
2: an above-average, notable NPC.
3: a superbly talented NPC.
4: a powerful, near-peerless creature.
5: peak of human potential, anything beyond is simply supernatural.

Levels higher than five should be reserved for characters who are distinctly supernatural, applying to characters who have superhuman grace, beauty, intellect, or a myriad of these traits unaided by Disciplines. Note, an NPC may not even have a Level, weaker than average as a result, which is reserved for particularly weak NPCs.

Ghoul Discipline Dots

By definition, ghoul servants are inherently more competent than their mortal counterparts. Use the above rules to create a ghoul servant, but add a dot of the regnant’s Disciplines for a one- or two-dot Retainer, a second dot for a three- or four-dot Retainer, and a third dot for a five-dot Retainer. This excludes the automatic dot ghouls receive in Potence.

NPC Growth

I will let players invest experience into teaching or raising their retainer's Disciplines. The experience cost will be the Current Rating x 10, excluding the first dot which requires a flat rate of 15 experience. As for a retainer's Level, the only way for a retainer's Level to increase from the initial investment at character creation is at my discretion. This will largely depend on the context of the role-play.