Serving staff are individuals who work directly for you and who you need to pay for from your normal finances. If staff are unpaid, they will leave and it may be difficult to attract more.

Serving staff can have between 0 and 5 dots depending on how skilled they are. Jobs have an expected skill rating, and people generally fill jobs that are within 1 dot of their skill rating. A bigger deviation means they will soon move to a different position.

What staff do you need?

Your estates are the primary determinant of what staff you need, but there is some additional staff required.

Calculating your required staff works as follows:

Step 1: Base Staff

Take all components of all your estates and add their required staff together. This is your base staff. It consists of the Kitchen Staff, the Male Serving Staff, the Female Serving Staff and the Outside Staff (see below)

Step 2: Outside Staff

The outside staff tends to the outside of the house. They include your guards, driver, groom, game keeper, stable boys, stalkers, and gardeners. Outside staff never includes women.

The Groundskeeper is a special exception and does not count as either outside staff or an agent.

If you have any special horses (racing horses, studs, brood mares, etc), you must have a groom. If you have the Stable component, a groom from that component counts.

For every full 5 outside staff, you must add one managing staff member, such as a Head Groom as appropriate for your situation.

Summary:

• +1 Groom if you have special horses and no groom
• +1 additional managing staff member per full 5 outside staff

Promotions:

• If you have three or more Gardeners, promote one Gardener to Head Gardener
• If you keep nine or more horses, promote one Groom to Stable Master
• If you have five or more Guards, promote one Guard to Sergeant

Step 3: Male Serving Staff

The male serving staff are the men who serve in the household tending to the various duties inside the house.

You require a Butler. Additionally, every gentleman who stays in your house, yourself included, needs a Valet. For every geographically separate estate beyond the biggest which generates three or more male base staff, also add an Underbutler.

After the above, add one managing male staff member per full 5 members of your male serving staff such as a Head Valet.

Summary:

• +1 Butler
• +1 Valet per gentleman in your household
• +1 Underbutler per extra separate estate that generates three or more male base staff
• +1 additional managing male staff member per full 5 male serving staff

Promotions:

• If you have two or more footmen, promote one footman to First Footman
• If you have five or more footmen, promote one footman to Second Footman

Step 4: Female Serving Staff

You require a Housekeeper. Additionally, every lady in your estate needs a Ladies Maid. If you keep children of noble descent, you also require a Nanny.

The Governess is a special exception and does not count as either a female serving staff or agent.

After the above, add one managing female staff member per full 5 members of your female serving staff such as a Head Housemaid.

Summary:

• +1 Housekeeper
• +1 Ladies Maid per lady in your household
• +1 Nanny if you have children in your household
• +1 additional female managing staff per full 5 (not counting the cook or kitchen maids)

Promotions:

• Promote Maids to Head Housemaid until the number of Head Housemaids is equal to or greater than your number of estates.
• Promote Head Housemaids to Underhousekeeper until the number of Butlers, Underbutlers and Underhousekeepers is equal to or greater than your number of estates

Step 5: Kitchen Staff

The Kitchen Staff is the staff that works in preparing food and ingredients. For kindred, this is usually focussed on feeding the kine staff and ghouls.

If your total staff is 5 or more servants, you need to have a cook or chef. If you have the Dining Component, the cook or chef from that component counts, and they are in charge of the kitchen maids.

If your total staff is 25 or more servants, you need an additional skullery maid or kitchen maid (your choice)

If your total staff is 50 or more servants, you to have two cooks or a cook and a chef. Any cooks or chefs from Dining Components count. You cannot have two chefs.

Summary:

• +1 Cook or Chef if you have 5+ staff and no cook or chef
• +1 Girl or Maid if you have 25+ staff
• +1 Cook or Chef if you have 50+ staff

Promotions:

• If you have more than one cook and no chefs, promote one cook to Head Cook

Other Employees

Some people who work directly for you are not staff. These are either non-staff or agents.

Non-Staff

Non-staff work to earn or manage things you own or control on your behalf. They include such people as a governess, a groundskeeper, a librarian managing your book collection or a lion tamer tending to your pet lion.

Non-Staff only maintain your assets. They do not increase or improve them, nor do they provide you with other benefits. These employees earn the same rates as staff of their gender and skill, and generally have 3-5 dots. You can hire any number of these within your financial ability.

Agents

Agents go beyond the maintenance provided by Non-Staff and will act on their own initiative in a way they believe serves your purposes. They earn the same rates as staff of their gender and skill, and generally have 3-5 dots. Agents are paid per their ranking, which normally nets them at least 10 pounds per month.

Examples of agents would include a private detective who does research for you, a journalist who writes articles for your pet political cause, or an artist who improves your properties on his own initiative.

You can hire one agent for every proper estate you have that is capable of supporting a Special component (see Estates). Agents must have a name and wiki page that you must create yourself.

Special exception: each Business you own can support one Agent. This agent does not count towards your limit and you do not have to pay them as the business provides the income to support them. As the agent is busy with the business, they perform no other duties for you.