Expanded Retainer List

Accountant

Households are largely disorganized affairs. Any household with five or more retainers that does not include an accountant, increases its running costs by 1d20% in any particular month as money slips through the cracks.

Alchemist

An alchemist reduces the amount of laboratory time needed for any magical research by 1d6 days per project. The alchemist must be present for the entire project, and paid by the month.

Animal Handler

While it is assumed that an odd animal here and there can be taken care of by its owner, having large numbers of animals on a property without anyone to see to their proper management creates a chaos of its own. Any property which has at least five animals (meant for hauling, work, or riding) needs an Animal Handler, and one Handler is required for each twenty such animals.

Armorer

Armorers are required to forge new armor and weapons and to keep existing armaments in good condition. One armorer per fifty armed troops is necessary.

Butler

A household can be a very disorganized place. If a character wanted to deal with all of the aspects of handling the day-to-day issues of running both his household and his retainers, then he would be a boss rather than an adventurer or explorer. A Butler (sometimes called a Steward) acts as head of the household and interacts with the staff so that the master of the house does not have to. If there are at least three different types of retainers (not counting sailors or mercenaries), then a Butler is necessary or the Morale of the retainers drops by one.

Coachman

A coachman is a character’s personal driver, on call to transport the player character about town. For short-term employment, see the Coach Charters in Services section. Coachmen do not travel anywhere that is not a safe, civilized area on reasonably maintained roads. If an adventurer wishes to hire someone who will drive his coach or wagon across the frontier, then he should hire a Teamster. A coachman’s wages do not include the coach itself or the animals to pull it.

Craftsman

Craftsmen include carpenters, masons, metalworkers, tailors, and other types of workers that take raw materials and make finished goods. Each craftsman hired specializes in a single trade, but an estate can hire one general craftsman to work as a handyman who will help maintain its infrastructure.

Guard

Guards are much like mercenaries, but they are not expected to travel. They will guard property and act as bodyguards for members of the household when out and about.

Guide

Guides are adept at finding their way in the wilderness. With a guide in tow, the chances of becoming lost are reduced, with the Bushcraft skill roll for becoming lost being made with a two point bonus.

Henchman

Henchmen are different in that they are not exactly hired help, but actually adventuring sidekicks. They also are classed characters. Characters can only hire henchmen that are at least two levels below their own. Henchmen are often found during adventures as allies, and make for great replacement player characters if and when a player’s character dies.

Laborer

Laborers do construction work, excavations, heavy lifting, and other physical sorts of labor. For every ten laborers, a foreman who is paid twice the average laborer’s wages is needed.

Linkboy

A linkboy is a servant who is a torch/lantern bearer. They do not do heavy labor or carry equipment (else the linkboy is treated as a laborer).

Mercenary

Mercenaries are paid warriors-for-hire. If recruited from the citizenry, all equipment must be supplied by their employers. To hire an existing mercenary company, its employer must hire at least 20 at once, and even then the standard gear is gambeson and a melee weapon. Mounted mercenary troupes cost ten times the normal amount. For every ten mercenaries hired, there must be one sergeant, who earns double what the average mercenary does, or their Morale drops by one. A hired group of one hundred or more mercenaries must have a captain (paid ten times as much as an individual soldier). Mercenaries are always 0 level, with sergeants being 1st level Fighters. Captains will be from 1st to 3rd level Fighters.

Physician

A character under the care of a physician in comfortable, safe surroundings (not in a dungeon or in the wilderness) recovers double the usual number of Wounds as listed under Healing. Qualified Physicians are able to perform surgery on traumas when necessary.

Sailor

Sailors, it will come as no surprise, man ships of the sea. They can handle every duty on board, from scrubbing the decks to repelling pirates. For every ten sailors, there must be a mate to organize them or the sailors’ Morale drops by one. Sailors are assumed to live on their ship.

Sailor, Captain

A ship full of sailors is not going to respect a landlubber, no matter how competent (or rich) he is. A proper sea captain is necessary to organize and command a ship’s crew, else the crew’s Morale drops by one.

Sailor, Navigator

Every vessel that leaves sight of land requires a Navigator on board, or else it has an increased chance of getting lost.

Sailor, Oarsman

If a vessel is an oared ship and not a sailing ship, oarsmen can instead be employed. Other than their pay, oarsmen are essentially the same as sailors.

Scholar

A scholar reduces the amount of laboratory time needed for any magical research by 1d4 weeks per project. The scholar must be present for the entire project, and paid by the month.

Servant

Every proper household requires servants to answer the door, bring the tea, cook meals, tidy up, run messages, and generally make life convenient and comfortable for the master of the house. Guests of importance will feel that they are in a home of ill-breeding if they are not greeted, and waited upon, by a servant. There should be one servant per five rooms on the property and one servant per ten individuals living on the premises.

Slave

Slaves are intelligent beings who are owned by others. Many societies frown upon (to various degrees, some quite severely) the owning of slaves that are the same race/religion/ethnicity as the predominant population, but look back to real world history and one can find a great many examples of slavery in practice. The role and extent of slavery in the campaign world is determined by the Referee.

A slave costs 50 sp, or 20 sp if purchased as a child. A slave will cost more if he has a specialized skill. A slave counts as half a person in a property’s food budget since they are often fed leftovers or sub-standard fare, even when otherwise treated well. Slaves also require half the usual space of living space required.

Slave Master

Even well-treated slaves are still slaves and not willing workers. For every ten slaves, a slave master is needed to oversee them.

Spy

Well-to-do households and powerful families need to know what is happening in the private halls of others like them—even if just to be made aware of hostile intentions. Just the same, every household of influence will be targeted by others hoping to get information about it and its master. As his cover, a spy will perform the tasks of a regular retainer, but is paid an extra sum to snoop around a bit and report all relevant information back to his employer. A spy is always a long-term employee.

Teamster

A teamster is an expert at efficiently packing animals and preparing them to haul cargo (or pull carts and wagons) over long distances. Teamsters alleviate some of a pack animal’s encumbrance and lessen the chance of vehicles breaking down while traveling.