Evil Debt Collector
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Basic Information

The Evil Debt Collector is a type of villain who will stoop to any low to collect a debt owed by another character. He will threaten both the debtor and his relatives and friends, and generally harass him until he coughs up all the money, and then some. What makes him a villain is that there is no limit to how far he will go to collect the debt - as long as he believes he can get away with it.

This character may merely be un unscrupulous employee of a legitimate company and be enforcing entirely legitimate debts in a severe manner (or the debts themselves may be extortionate although legal) or he may work for a criminal loan sharking operation, in which case all bets are off.

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Game and Story Use

  • Many game systems give "character points" for taking Enemies. Evil Debt Collectors are useful Enemies because they don't actually want to kill the character and in fact might not even do anything blatantly illegal - but they will still be such a nuisance to the character that the PC will suffer for it, and they can't even kill them and claim self-defence as with more traditional Enemies!
    • Bonus points if you can persuade your players not to default immediately to murder when faced with this character.
    • Added hilarity when they realise that killing the collectors doesn't make the debt go away and probably makes things worse.
  • Having a debt collector as an enemy only works if the PC can't repay the debt without a great deal of inconvenience, of course. But perhaps there is a case of mistaken identity and the Evil Debt Collector believes the PC to be someone who has a huge debt - and proving the character's innocence would be a very long and costly process…
    • A half-way house could be a debt that the character doesn't consider theirs and for which making a payment could involve accepting additional legal liabilities they have no wish to incur.
  • The Evil Debt Collector doesn't have to target the PC's; he might be putting the screws on an NPC family member or anyone the PCs might feel a duty to.
    • "If we don't get the mortgage payment by noon tomorrow, Silas Barnaby is going to foreclose on the Widow Peep's shoe!"
      • Yes, I said shoe. If you catch what I'm referencing, it makes sense.
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