Family Retainer

A bond-servant sworn to one of the great Houses, raised in the household, paid in stipend and standing.

The great Houses are the only institutions older than the Confederation. Retainers are sworn young, often by their parents' arrangement, and serve until release, death, or exile. The House pays a stipend, trains the body, and teaches the protocol. In return the retainer owes labour, silence, and an absolute prohibition on speaking against the House in public. A retainer without a House is not free, exactly, but is also not protected.

Rules Reference

Field	Value
Archetype Combinations / Academic	Workable fit. House archives are deep; the Academic becomes the keeper.
Archetype Combinations / Chaplain	Workable fit. Retainer-chaplains serve House shrines and have unusual access to House dead.
Archetype Combinations / Face	Best fit. Persuasion and Intimidation plus House name produces a Face with institutional reach.
Archetype Combinations / Officer	Good fit. Officer's oath structure mirrors the retainer's oath; the combination is internally consistent.
Archetype Combinations / Operative	Good fit. House networks are a free intelligence channel inside aristocratic space.
Archetype Combinations / Psion	Awkward fit. Houses watch their psions; the retainer's leash is doubly tight.
Archetype Combinations / Sawbones	Workable fit. House physicians are retainers and have remarkable access.
Archetype Combinations / Scout	Awkward fit. Scouts range; retainers attend.
Archetype Combinations / Soldier	Awkward fit. Retainers rarely fight their own battles; House soldiers are usually a separate body.
Background Trait / Cause	Because the House name opens doors the mark cannot, and a House dishonoured drags every sworn retainer down with it.
Background Trait / Name	House Mark
Background Trait / Trigger	Passive; invoked when House name is spoken.
Starting Rek	500
Verse Anchor	Family Retainer

Notes

Background Trait / Effect: +2 circumstance bonus to Persuasion and Intimidation checks made while invoking the sworn House's name and presenting the signet. Suffers -2 penalty to all social checks in scenes where the House has been publicly insulted, until the character undertakes a public act that restores standing.

Social Hook: The retainer introduces themselves by House name and rank. They defer to senior retainers, defer harder to House blood, and stand for the House's honour even when the House is wrong. They know every cousin, every servant, and every secret that the House has not killed yet. Outside the House they are polite and very, very careful.

Starting Gear: House livery (formal; light armour value, +1 to reaction rolls with House-aligned NPCs), House signet ring (small; doubles as identity and lock-key for one House location), Sidearm, House-issue (ITEM-slug pistol-PISTOL or slugsidearm; see House choice), Direct comm unit (hardline to House estate; not interceptable by casual networks), Formal dagger (House pattern; legal as sidearm in most jurisdictions), Stipend chip (500 rek balance, drawn monthly from House accounts), House credential scroll (one-time; permits entry to one House-held facility, GM choice)

Trained Skills

Skill	Ranks	Note
Bureaucracy	4	House registries, contracts, tariffs, and lineages.
Intimidation	2	Speaking softly because the House is large.
Persuasion	2	Negotiating on the House's behalf.