Level & Retainer
Your Level in Glass Empires is derived from the people who depend upon & support you. Your “Level” is borrowed from your largest ruled Faction — specifically, it’s determined by the number of Families in the Capital of your largest ruled Faction.
While a Family for population purposes is estimated at ~5 people (a husband, wife, and 3 offspring of whom roughly 1.5 on average can work), for the sake of getting Level 1, any number of dependents qualifies you as having a single Family. If you have a Retainer you are responsible for — whether a squire, little sibling, wise old parent, or apprentice — you have 1 Family.
For the sake of PCs alone, the Party (a traditional tightly-knit group of PCs) qualifies as a Family, because you all depend upon each other and support each other. Therefore, all PCs have at least 1 Family even if they have no Retainer, and are therefore Level 1.
Since a traditional Party of PCs is at the outset likely a mobile band, you qualify as an Army and therefore your Capital is your mobile encampment. As a consequence, your Retainers are qualified as Family by virtue of being “in your Capital” as in “being your traveling partners.”
| Families in Capital | Faction Level |
|---|---|
| 0 | — |
| 1+ | 1 |
| 3+ | 2 |
| 10+ | 3 |
| 30+ | 4 |
| 100+ | 5 |
| 300+ | 6 |
| 1,000+ | 7 |
| 3,000+ | 8 |
| 10k+ | 9 |
| 30k+ | 10 |
| 100k+ | 11 |
| 300k+ | 12 |
Starting Retainer
Your Retainer is the person who follows you and forms the fledgling nucleus of your power. All Retainers start Friendly to you. Generate your starting Retainer with three rolls:
1. Archetype and Bond
Roll d66 on the table below to determine who they are & why they follow you.
| d66 | Archetype |
|---|---|
| 11–12 | Apprentice. You teach them. They admire you and want to become what you are. |
| 13–14 | Bodyguard. Sworn by oath to keep you alive. They take this literally. |
| 15–16 | Zealot. They believe you are destined. This is not your opinion. |
| 21–22 | Kin. Blood relative. You share a family name, a history, and enemies. |
| 23–24 | Servant. Bound by contract or indenture. They serve because they must. |
| 25–26 | Debtor. You cleared their debt. They serve out of gratitude … for now. |
| 31–32 | Mender. Hired to keep your gear, weapons, or household working. |
| 33–34 | Clerk. Keeps your accounts, correspondence, or records in order. |
| 35–36 | Scout. Knows the land, the routes, and who lives where. |
| 41–42 | Informant. Knows people; who speaks to whom, who owes what. |
| 43–44 | Veteran. Was someone else’s soldier before. Has seen what happens. |
| 45–46 | Cast-off. Was someone else’s. They chose you over their former master. |
| 51–52 | Merchant. Holds a trading license or a wagon with goods to move. |
| 53–54 | Healer. Knows herbs, poultices, and when a wound is beyond saving. |
| 55–56 | Handler. Manages your animals, retainers, or awkward dependants. |
| 61–62 | Student of the Strange. Knows something about spirits, magic, or what lurks in the dark. |
| 63–64 | Friend’s Kin. Loyal to you by proxy; they’re someone else’s sibling, cousin, or retainer. |
| 65–66 | Survivor. You saved their life. They owe you a life-debt and take this seriously. |
2. Origin
Roll once on either Origins Table A or Table B. The result is your Retainer’s Origin. Write a Fact using the same formula as PC Origins: “Because I was [background], I learned [lesson].“
3. Complication
Roll d66 on the table below. Every Retainer has a flaw, a burden, or a tension waiting to surface.
| d66 | Complication |
|---|---|
| 11–12 | Rival. Someone wants what your Retainer has, or wants them dead. |
| 13–14 | Loyal to someone else. They report to another faction. Not necessarily against you … yet. |
| 15–16 | Expensive habit. Drink, gambling, opium, luxury goods. They cost more than they earn. |
| 21–22 | Wanted. A warrant exists for a crime they definitely committed. |
| 23–24 | Frail. Chronic illness or old injury. Needs rare medicine or regular rest. |
| 25–26 | Dependant. They have a child, elder, or disabled relative who depends on them. |
| 31–32 | Bound by a code. They follow a personal or religious law that conflicts with your plans. |
| 33–34 | Indiscreet. They talk too freely. A diplomatic liability in any sensitive matter. |
| 35–36 | Haunted. Something from their past (a spirit, a memory, a debt) is following them. |
| 41–42 | Bad reputation. Their name carries weight you do not want attached to yours. |
| 43–44 | Romantic fool. They fall in love easily, unwisely, and with the wrong people. |
| 45–46 | Soft-hearted. They will not harm a specific group (children, clergy, their own kin, animals). |
| 51–52 | Hoards something. Coins, secrets, food, trinkets, grudges; they collect & do not let go. |
| 53–54 | Fugue. Episodes of dissociation, possession, or sleepwalking. They are not always themselves. |
| 55–56 | Blackmailed. Someone holds leverage over them. That someone will eventually call it in. |
| 61–62 | Loyal to the role, not you. If you lose your position, you lose them. |
| 63–64 | Knows too much. They know where the bodies are buried. So do their enemies. |
| 65–66 | Two masters. They serve you & someone else. They hope these loyalties never conflict. |
Stats
Retainers start as Level 0 characters of their respective race with no outstanding special abilities or equipment.
Retainers in Play
Your Retainer counts as 1 Family for determining your Faction’s Level. They can act independently on your behalf, carry messages, manage a Subfaction, or accompany you into danger. If they die, you lose that Family and must find a replacement to maintain your Level.
A Retainer’s Bond and Complication are both Facts. They can be invoked for +1 or -1 on Saves the same way any other Fact works. A Zealot’s faith gives +1 to resist intimidation but -1 when their beliefs are challenged. A Debtor’s obligation gives +1 to negotiation but -1 when the creditor makes their move.