The book isn't as clear as it could be about how to create your Retainers and which different dots of Retainers mean. So, here's how I run it: Each Retainer you have is rated as being worth 1-5 dots. Your actual Retainers Background can go up forever, in theory, though at some point I will ask you to stop buying Retainers because that many NPC's is just ridiculous.
• - A one-dot Retainer has 12 in Attributes, 16 in Abilities and 4 in Virtues. Or, use a Template from the Dark Ages ST Companion.
•• - A two-dot Retainer has 15 in Attributes, 25 in Abilities and 5 in Virtues. Or, use a Template from the V:tM Corebook.
••• - A three-dot Retainer is built using full character creation rules appropriate to their type (human or ghoul).
•••• - Four-dot Retainers have advanced somewhat beyond character creation and have bonus points applied, equivalent to 1 dot of Age.
••••• - Five-dot Retainers are extremely powerful and may have 2 or 3 dots of Age.
Once a Retainer is rated at 5, they are considered a full-fledged NPC and start accruing their own downtime bonuses and XP.
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