Hugo brought me my tea each morn for years until one time he didn't, and it turned out he'd died. I replaced him with a robot, also named Hugo. He'd have wanted it this way.
The Lackey archetype is probably most useful for actual NPC henchmen hired by the players, but as always is also available to the players themselves if they think it would be fun to be the hapless yet competent sidekick.
| Lackey | Do the dirty work. | |
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| caret-right | Assistant | Give all kinds of support. |
| caret-right | Guinea Pig | Test for danger. |
| caret-right | Loyalty | Find and identify allies. |
| caret-right | Schlimazel | Be beaten and ignored. |
| caret-right | Valet | Serve a master. |
| Utility | plus-circlePack Mule: You suffer none of the negative effects from being heavily encumbered (you neither take an impairment to movement rate nor suffer +2 damage from attacks). minus-circlePorter's Curse: The Lackey ability only functions when all items in your heavy inventory slots belong to other people. If you are carrying anything in your heavy inventory slots that belongs to you, you can make free use of, or that directly benefits you in some way then you suffer the negative effects of heavy encumbrance as usual. |
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| Utility | plus-circleScalpel, Please: Any of your allies adjacent to your location can freely access and use your resources (Provisions, Supplies, Mojo) or items from your inventory as if they were their own. | |
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| Protection | plus-circleFawning Ministration: When any ally adjacent to your location makes a recovery action and succeeds (result of 9+), then their recovery retroactively becomes a free action. minus-circleLimited Scope: No single ally can gain a free recovery action from this effect more than once per round. |
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| Social | plus-circleWingman: You're well-practiced in making others look good, whether by talking them up or simply by providing somebody to compare them positively to. So long as you are present, any of your allies can spend a procedure and a point of Mojo to thoroughly impress a single NPC creature. You can choose what the targeted creature feels toward the ally in question: respect, adoration, or fear. minus-circleLose The Chump: Any NPC whose feelings were manipulated through this ability automatically feels nothing but contempt for you and wants you out of their sight (but depending on circumstances might be willing to put up with your presence for a short while). |
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| Protection | plus-circleTrap Springer: Every time you take a knowing risk (opening a chest you suspect may be trapped, jumping through a portal whose endpoint is unknown, eating the really weird-smelling food that the goblins are offering to you, or similar) and would suffer a negative effect as a direct result, roll a trigger die. If the result is 4+, you ignore the negative effects of your testing. plus-circleClear Warning: You suffer appropriate cosmetic effects as a result of your choice (singed eyebrows, attached leeches, brief but copious vomiting, etc), meaning that you and everyone else knows exactly what would have happened if you hadn't used Guinea Pig to negate it. If the negative effect was a one-time thing (such as most traps) then you set it off and it's safe for everybody else. If it's an ongoing effect, the rest of the party knows how to prepare for it or can simply avoid it. minus-circleTesting Risk: Guinea Pig can only be used to avoid dangers that are uncertain. If you know for sure that doing something is dangerous (like jumping in lava), then Guinea Pig cannot negate the negative effects of doing it. If you're not sure if something is dangerous but think it might be, then Guinea Pig totally applies. |
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| Social | plus-circleKnow The Masters: You can instantly identify any member of your party with perfect accuracy. You cannot be tricked by disguises, illusions, or imposters of any sort. plus-circleMaster's Acting Strange: You can also tell if any member of your party is being compelled to act against their will (either via mind-control effects or mundane means such as blackmail). |
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| Utility | plus-circleFind The Masters: You always know where your party members are, even when you get separated. At any given time, you can ask the referee for the direction, distance, and shortest route to any given party member and they'll tell you. | |
| caret-right | Alternative | plus-circleServant's Bell: You have a knack for showing up right when your allies have need of you. As a procedure, any ally can summon you to their side (you run in panting from somewhere just off-screen). minus-circleSummon's Price: Every time an ally summons you in this way, they must spend 1 Mojo. |
| Protection | plus-circleMeatshield: If an adjacent ally is targeted with an attack or other negative effect, you can choose to allow them to push you in its way instead. This redirects the attack from your ally to you, and you suffer all negative effects of it. minus-circleConservation of Action: The ally you protect using this ability takes one less action on their next turn than normal (minimum 0). You cannot protect any single ally more than twice per round with this ability, although you can theoretically protect multiple allies as much as you want. |
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| Protection | plus-circleSkull Roulette: If any negative effect or circumstance would strike a party member at random, you can choose to make it automatically be you. | |
| Social | plus-circleShut Up, Jerry: Socially speaking, you are beneath others' notice. During social interactions or negotiations, everyone present will ignore you and leave you to your own devices. minus-circleWell, Look Who's Talking: If you directly assist or speak up, people will pay attention to you again and you lose this benefit. |
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| Utility | plus-circleTripitaka: You are a general dogsbody for everybody in your party, but have one creature in particular that you're sworn to serve in all things: your master. Your master is a second character under your control that accompanies you on adventures and helps you to the best of their ability. plus-circleMaster Stats: Your master has a level equal to half of your own level (round fractions down) and can have any archetypes/abilities that you and the referee agree are appropriate. plus-circleLeftovers: Whenever you need to feed yourself you only need to pay the price once for both yourself and your master. Your master eats first, then you subsist off their leftovers. plus-circlePiggy-Back: You treat your master as being one size smaller than their actual size for purposes of being able to carry them. minus-circleNoncombatant: Your master might be a peaceful scholar, holy child, foppish nobleman, or anything else you can imagine, but regardless of their origin they are completely worthless in combat. Masters can take no actions during combat other than movement (which they usually use to run away from the danger). Masters also refuse to do any kind of hard labor or get dirty unless it's absolutely necessary. That's what you're for. minus-circleHENCH4LIFE: If your master is killed, then your career as an adventurer is over even if you survive. You can retire if you want, but cannot go on any further adventures. Any positive accomplishments, fame, or glory you achieve will be credited to your master instead of you. |
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