An Igor For the Modern Day

[Railstar]

Greetings!

Had a henchman idea for a vampire necromancer character. The basic outline for the build is Cultist + Adept from DF 15, using the Hulking Igor archetype, who has learned far more from his master thanks to extended loyal service. The inspiration is said Igor archetype, and partly the “dregs” from Warhammer/Mordheim.

GM policy on Allies is “you make them but show me first”, because 1 – it saves the GM the work of designing NPCs from the ground up, & 2 – many of the NPC’s abilities were taught to him by the vampire-necromancer, so it makes sense she’d choose what he learns from her.

That’s not the side I need help with. There’s a catch.

It’s a modern day setting. Earth + secret magic. Modern day Cabal-lite.

My goal is to figure out a feasible background for a modern-day person to end up as the Igor archetype.

A few elements I have in mind…

-Igor will have IQ 12 from Adept, and HT 12 from Cultist, ST 11-12 = he’s both smart & sturdy.

-while the mistress has spells & hypnosis-based Brainwashing, I want those to be only secondary factors in securing his loyalty, because overdoing those would cause either resentment or mental damage (which would undermine his worth as her assistant). I want this Igor to be genuinely loyal.

-loyal enough to be a trusted servant yet amoral enough to do the bad things listed in the Igor job description (grave-robbing, hacking up bodies, restraining sacrificial victims).

-a moderately cautious vampire necromancer was willing to trust him with a Secret worth -30.

-Igor has the Hunchback disadvantage, even though the necromancer has spells like Alter Body and could remove it. Maybe the necromancer made him a hunchback? But while she is cruel (has the Callous disadvantage), she lacks any drive towards pointless cruelty, so there would have to be a benefit or purpose towards deforming him.

Some sacrifices in realism are fine, but the more plausible or believable it can be, the better.

What kind of person would make a good Igor candidate in the modern day? Who was he?

How could the necromancer win said Igor’s loyalty?

How would an Igor prove worthy of trust for a vampire-necromancer to be open with him?

Thanks in advance.

[Maz]

Loyal allies who are willing to do amoral things for their masters can come from many places. Mostly you have to figure out what motivates their loyalty.

Love The ally could feel love for their master. This does not have to be romantic or sexual. It could be more the love of a caretaker. They know their master has terrible flaws and feel it their responsibility to take care of her. If he do not do it, who else would? What would then become of her? He might in part be motivated by trying to "keep her from getting any worse". If he takes care of the stuff, he can do it in a more humane way, than she would. He might also deep down hope to redeem her.
He might suffer from Delusion (Shes not that bad) to help overlook actions and her social disads. He will also have Sense of Duty (Master).
Someone motivated by love might in desperate times go against the masters wishes because "its for their own good".


Respect They have a deep respect for their master. This might be because of their masters actions or their powers or their skills. The ally probably looks up to and wants to be like their master. They try to follow their lead and take actions as they think their master would. And they are constantly trying to get their masters praise. They probably come from nothing themselves and have had few good rolemodels in their life. They justify amoral actions with reasoning such as "Thats what you have to do to become like the master".
They might suffer from disads such as Low self image (which might be covered up by acting like they had the Overconfidence disad) and Delusion (The master is never wrong) or outright Fanatism.
They might try to do stupid things to earn the grace of the master. such as trying to take care of problems they can't handle without telling the master about them. Or cover up mistakes so they get out of hand to avoid loosing favor from the master


Fear. The ally will be a reluctant ally. They do what they do motivated by fear. They know their master is all powerful and going against them will only result in pain, humiliation or death. They are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid punishment from the master, no matter how amorale the actions. They have given up on most independent initiative and just do whatever the master tells them to do without question.
They suffer from disads such as Delusion (The master is all powerful) and likely some of Cowardice, Incurious or Quirk level paranoia.
They might turn against their master if convinced that another party is powerful enough to take out the master and set them free.



As to where these allies can come from, it can be from any walks of life. But in general they will probably be someone who has been on the low end of social status. Someone with a hunchback can have let a life of being ridiculed and being a social outcast. They might love or respect someone for taking them in and giving them respect for their abilities and not for their look. They might be an easy target for a bully to take in a make their fearful slave.

As to why the master has not removed the hunchback. If the ally loves the master, they might feel that the master took them in when they had the hunchback and it might change if it got removed. They might also feel there is no reason for the master to waste their efforts on them. Someone who respects the master might be of the opinion that the master took them in as they where, changing that would go against the masters wishes. They want to prove that they can do whatever it takes no matter how they look.

[Apollonian]

Shouldn't be particularly difficult; just look at co-dependent relationships or criminal organizations. Loyalty + no scruples isn't exactly uncommon. As you've put it, it seems like the Igor and the necromancer have a mutually respectful relationship - while they might be manipulating each other on some level, they're also genuinely loyal to each other. That implies they've bonded over something, which could be as simple as having similar outlooks on life and a past history of mutual aid.

Or, for a bit more world-building, he could be part of a family that's got a history of aiding vampires, like the Igors of Discworld or the Ghoul families of the World of Darkness. Why does he aid Master? Tradition!

Mechanically, I think your Igor needs Callous, Sense of Duty (Master), and maybe a quirk to explain why he still has a hunchback. ("I'm meant to be deformed. God hates me.") He'll also have Secret (horrible crimes) which ties him to his Master who also has such a secret - they both know enough about each other that betrayal carries deep risks of exposure above and beyond any other consequences.

Oh, if you haven't seen it, you should take a look at the RPG My Life With Master. It's a very short, very powerful little game about being the minions to a cruel master, and well worth taking a look at on its own merits.

[johndallman]

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Why does he aid Master? Tradition!

Or maybe he just enjoys the idea of doing it, and some parts of the work.

[Railstar]

Thanks all for the answers so far! You’ve inspired me with quite a lot of food for thought.

Originally Posted by Maz

Loyal allies who are willing to do amoral things for their masters can come from many places. Mostly you have to figure out what motivates their loyalty.

Love The ally could feel love for their master. This does not have to be romantic or sexual. It could be more the love of a caretaker. They know their master has terrible flaws and feel it their responsibility to take care of her. If he do not do it, who else would? What would then become of her? He might in part be motivated by trying to "keep her from getting any worse". If he takes care of the stuff, he can do it in a more humane way, than she would. He might also deep down hope to redeem her.
He might suffer from Delusion (Shes not that bad) to help overlook actions and her social disads. He will also have Sense of Duty (Master).
Someone motivated by love might in desperate times go against the masters wishes because "its for their own good".


Respect They have a deep respect for their master. This might be because of their masters actions or their powers or their skills. The ally probably looks up to and wants to be like their master. They try to follow their lead and take actions as they think their master would. And they are constantly trying to get their masters praise. They probably come from nothing themselves and have had few good rolemodels in their life. They justify amoral actions with reasoning such as "Thats what you have to do to become like the master".
They might suffer from disads such as Low self image (which might be covered up by acting like they had the Overconfidence disad) and Delusion (The master is never wrong) or outright Fanatism.
They might try to do stupid things to earn the grace of the master. such as trying to take care of problems they can't handle without telling the master about them. Or cover up mistakes so they get out of hand to avoid loosing favor from the master


Fear. The ally will be a reluctant ally. They do what they do motivated by fear. They know their master is all powerful and going against them will only result in pain, humiliation or death. They are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid punishment from the master, no matter how amorale the actions. They have given up on most independent initiative and just do whatever the master tells them to do without question.
They suffer from disads such as Delusion (The master is all powerful) and likely some of Cowardice, Incurious or Quirk level paranoia.
They might turn against their master if convinced that another party is powerful enough to take out the master and set them free.



As to where these allies can come from, it can be from any walks of life. But in general they will probably be someone who has been on the low end of social status. Someone with a hunchback can have let a life of being ridiculed and being a social outcast. They might love or respect someone for taking them in and giving them respect for their abilities and not for their look. They might be an easy target for a bully to take in a make their fearful slave.

As to why the master has not removed the hunchback. If the ally loves the master, they might feel that the master took them in when they had the hunchback and it might change if it got removed. They might also feel there is no reason for the master to waste their efforts on them. Someone who respects the master might be of the opinion that the master took them in as they where, changing that would go against the masters wishes. They want to prove that they can do whatever it takes no matter how they look.

Of these I would like Love or Respect to be the major motivations. Probably a mixture of the two. Definitely not Fear, because then the master would consider it too dangerous to teach him magic, since it would be giving power to someone who already wants to betray her.

Thinking in terms of walks of life, I’m thinking since the suggested Igor skills are Animal Handling, Lifting, Packing, Scrounging, Stealth, Teamster, Axe/Mace & Wrestling, so probably a background explaining at least some of those skills. For the modern day perhaps some of them could/should be updated to Driving. It would also need to be a walk of life sufficiently unrewarding for Igor to readily abandon it to become the necromancer’s full-time servant. Does anything spring to mind?

Going with the social outcast idea, perhaps being a target of bullying or ridicule embittered him? Perhaps much of the appeal of learning necromancy is because he sees the power as a way to protect himself from mistreatment in the future, so nobody can treat him that way again. I’m not sure of the specifics, yet, but maybe the master’s necromancy or vampirism ended up hurting one of his tormentors.

A possible idea is when the master killed someone, either by magic or by blood-drain, Igor took it upon himself to dispose of the body? The reasoning being Igor hated the guy and so didn’t want whoever killed the guy to get caught. The master returns to clean up after the murder and finds it already done for her. I can see that piquing her interest enough to not dispose of him, instead using Oath and/or hypnotic Brainwashing to enforce his silence… which he accepts willingly, this show of good faith being the start of earning her trust.

An idea I had for the hunchback is it could be a hump which stores extra bone-marrow, producing extra blood, being convenient for the master to occasionally feed on him without harm. Not sure how viable that is, because that would imply she later added the hunchback, whereas some of the backstory ideas assumes he had it earlier.

Originally Posted by Apollonian

Shouldn't be particularly difficult; just look at co-dependent relationships or criminal organizations. Loyalty + no scruples isn't exactly uncommon. As you've put it, it seems like the Igor and the necromancer have a mutually respectful relationship - while they might be manipulating each other on some level, they're also genuinely loyal to each other. That implies they've bonded over something, which could be as simple as having similar outlooks on life and a past history of mutual aid.

Or, for a bit more world-building, he could be part of a family that's got a history of aiding vampires, like the Igors of Discworld or the Ghoul families of the World of Darkness. Why does he aid Master? Tradition!

Mechanically, I think your Igor needs Callous, Sense of Duty (Master), and maybe a quirk to explain why he still has a hunchback. ("I'm meant to be deformed. God hates me.") He'll also have Secret (horrible crimes) which ties him to his Master who also has such a secret - they both know enough about each other that betrayal carries deep risks of exposure above and beyond any other consequences.

Oh, if you haven't seen it, you should take a look at the RPG My Life With Master. It's a very short, very powerful little game about being the minions to a cruel master, and well worth taking a look at on its own merits.

Definitely a mutually respectful relationship. Both characters would like each other. Teaching Igor necromancy would mean spending a fair amount of time in his company, so at the very least he’s someone she doesn’t get tired of. I expect part of her motivation for teaching him is just to have someone she can talk necromancy with.

The way the necromancer thinks, liking someone and manipulating them can go together.

I’d heard about My Life With Master when I started doing some research for this. I’m not sure if it’s something I’m willing to shell out money on just yet, but the concept is really intriguing.

Originally Posted by johndallman

Or maybe he just enjoys the idea of doing it, and some parts of the work.

Makes total sense. At the very least I see him as reasonably content with working for her. If he starts getting upset by what she asks of him she’d transfer him to other duties – even though she’s Callous, she wouldn’t want to strain his loyalty.

[Apollonian]

One idea for their meeting is that he somehow does her a solid for his own reasons, maybe steering some vampire hunters away from her when she's vulnerable because he has a grudge against the hunters. She thinks he might be useful to cultivate as an ally after that, and things proceed from there.

[Railstar]

Possible thought about a background to explain his recommended skills. Perhaps he worked in a slaughterhouse? Animal Handling from leading animals to the slaughter, Lifting for moving carcasses, Packing for quickly loading or unloading, Axe/Mace for using the cleaver, and Wrestling as an example of how poor conditions were in said slaughterhouse.

It explains his desensitisation, very poor working conditions explains who it was he hated enough to dispose of their body and why he was so willing to leave that life behind to go serve the necromancer.

Thoughts?

Originally Posted by Apollonian

One idea for their meeting is that he somehow does her a solid for his own reasons, maybe steering some vampire hunters away from her when she's vulnerable because he has a grudge against the hunters. She thinks he might be useful to cultivate as an ally after that, and things proceed from there.

I’m thinking disposing of the body would fit that description. Doing it for his own reasons adds an extra dimension to it – if the victim was a supervisor who mistreated him, then he might have disposed of the body partly because he thought he would be the top suspect for his murder if the body was found.

As for steering away vampire hunters? Definitely not. For that to make sense he’d need to know the vampire’s Secret without her realising he knew (or else she’d have done something about it), which makes the master seem too sloppy and careless.

[starslayer]

Its a modern day setting?

Have igor have been a gothy type with a fascination with the occult, death, and vampires even before meeting his mistress.

She is literally the gateway to everything he wanted to find out about life and probably has a decade or two more service before the combined novelty of 'she's a VAMPIRE and she's TEACHING ME MAGIC' wear thin (at which point as long as she's been treating him well he will still be loyal out of respect rather than idolized admiration).

As the years start tagging on him he might start getting itchy to be 'turned', but if he's say 16-18 at time of recruitment you probably have a decade even before that sets in (If he's thinking sensibly; and vampirisim does 'freeze' you in time he has probably become quite the gym rat, both to be more useful and to get to the ideal body he wants to 'freeze' in vampirisim).

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by starslayer

Its a modern day setting?

Have igor have been a gothy type with a fascination with the occult, death, and vampires even before meeting his mistress.

She is literally the gateway to everything he wanted to find out about life and probably has a decade or two more service before the combined novelty of 'she's a VAMPIRE and she's TEACHING ME MAGIC' wear thin (at which point as long as she's been treating him well he will still be loyal out of respect rather than idolized admiration).

As the years start tagging on him he might start getting itchy to be 'turned', but if he's say 16-18 at time of recruitment you probably have a decade even before that sets in (If he's thinking sensibly; and vampirisim does 'freeze' you in time he has probably become quite the gym rat, both to be more useful and to get to the ideal body he wants to 'freeze' in vampirisim).

I like it! You make a really solid point about the novelty of learning magic only having to last a few years, by which point he’s been serving her a few years and they have an established relationship. I think I’ll definitely have him recruited while relatively young.

I think having him be a gothy type might be overdoing it, since he’s a hunchback and his name is Ian Gor-something (Gorbet? Gordonson?) to reasonably shorten to Igor, but a more subtle interest certainly sounds like a good feature.

[starslayer]

Originally Posted by Railstar

I like it! You make a really solid point about the novelty of learning magic only having to last a few years, by which point he’s been serving her a few years and they have an established relationship. I think I’ll definitely have him recruited while relatively young.

I think having him be a gothy type might be overdoing it, since he’s a hunchback and his name is Ian Gor-something (Gorbet? Gordonson?) to reasonably shorten to Igor, but a more subtle interest certainly sounds like a good feature.

Yea, when I say 'gothy type' I don't mean necessarily mean 'goes full goth with dyed black hair, black lipstick, wears a cape and mopes about all the time' so much as the more pervasive 'interest in death, the occult, and vampires' with a bit of a leaning twoards the macabre.

Also of note he'd be 'true' to the gothy type ideas rather than a 'poser'- death the occult and vampires would legitimately interest him, and his collection of hand cleaned animals skulls likely made him a bit of a social outcast-- having someone who says 'A rat skull, can I take this, it would be PERFECT for the stealth ritual I want to cast!' would convey feelings of accomplishment that will last a long time.