“Greed…, is Good.” – Gordon Gecko

There are people in the world just like sharks. They must always swim forward perpetually, feeding on anyone in their path, or else they atrophy and die. So it was in 19th Century England. These shark-like people who went into business were termed Robber-Barrons.

The Robber-Barron may or may not have an actual noble title in the beginning. He will seek to acquire one soon enough though. If nothing else, a seat amongst the local peerage makes his base of power that much more unstoppable.

The Robber-Barron operates like a Nietzschien; outside all moral constraints except one. He must constantly seek more power and he must constantly ruin any competitor. He can’t just beat them down; he has to rub them into a little spot of grease.

The Robber-Barron will typically own a large industrial monopoly of some kind and live the life of King Midas. He will be exceedingly parsimonious and exceedingly greedy. The Robber-Barron will, however, honor a contract if the party can legally enforce it against him.

They do seem to be overwhelmingly prone to starting their careers as Plutomancers.

Taboo: A Robber-Barron must always completely ruin his competitors at any important endeavor. Just winning does not suffice. The competitor has to either be dead, or even better, worse off than dead.

Masks: Gordon Gecko, Ebenezer Scrooge

Historical Avatars: Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, JP Morgan

Channels:

01-50%: In Awe of The Power: A successful roll of this channel allows The Robber-Barron to make others both more subservient and a little more likely to fear him. It gets rolled automatically, the first time the RB is introduced to a new person by name. The new acquaintance will have to roll a self check at -10%, Level 3, or she will treat the RB with deference and appear, in terms of body language to be intimidated.

51-70%: How Dare You Try and Thwart Me!: Rolled against the Avatar skill at the start of any combat or contested skill check. If the roll succeeds, the RB rolls any die roll involved as if he’s under his rage stimulus. If the check fails, the opponent does the same.

71-90%: Civic Dispersment: Rolling this avatar check successfully will make anyone encountering the RB think only about the great things the RB does for charity and makes the RB appear to be the soul of generosity. This is regardless of what the RB has done or how he made that money that was later donated. It works until they witness the RB inflicting physical violence or some other type of misery on others.

91-99%: You Will Hand It Over: The RB points to or otherwise distinctly identifies a physical object to one other person. The RB makes his skill check. If successful, the victim has to pass a Level 8 Helplessness Check or they will fetch this object for the RB. All actions undertaken by the effected person to get the RB that object will be undertaken as if under Noble Stimulus.