Regular Entourage

by Phenster

Jinx likes to have a lot of sword- and spearmen as a regular entourage. He says it's better to have more steel on the target. Beowulf doesn't like to have any hires at all. He says his two-handed sword is steel enough. I like to have a fighter or two to protect my skin when the going gets rough. Hazard lets us roll the dice for our hirelings, so it's more fun when I can't throw a spell. Plus, when one of our characters is killed, we can always take over a hireling or a henchman.

We used to advertise for positions and role-play the encounter and haggle for the fee and all that, but after one or two times it wasn't much fun. Now we just go to the Nine of Pentacles^[1] and buy ale for potential hires. We tell Hazard what professions we're looking for and how many. Then Hazard tells us how many there are and how much they cost according to his system (see below). We still do some haggling.

Dwarves and elves for hire are rare, but we can usually find one or two human-types or halflings we want. And there's never a shortage of men-at-arms, unless there's a war or something, like the time a horde of demons got loose from the Great Halls and rampaged the countryside.

Hire Rates by Armor Type

To figure the cost to retain the services of a hireling, Hazard takes 1/10th the XP required for the hire's level. All 1st-level human and halfling types cost 100 g.p. minimum. Men-at-arms (0-level) are 50. 1st-level dwarves and elves are 200.

That's the usual rate, which we call CHAIN. Double the rate is PLATE (+1 reaction), and half is called LEATHER (-1 reaction). You can negotiate for even lower rates (-2 reaction). Then it's called JACK, as in "I didn’t get jack...." Any bonus money or benefits is called SHIELD (+1 if consequential). If you really want a particular hireling for some reason (like if a fighter looks especially strong), you can pay DOUBLE PLATE for an extra bonus.

We have to buy armor and weapons for hires, of course, plus equipment and rations. We also pay room and board, and hirelings get half-shares of the treasure. We usually don't have to pay guild fees (for magic-users and thieves), but a potential hire might haggle for it, and that gets expensive!

Dwarves and elves expect to be paid plate (-1, -2 for lesser offers).

Negotiation

After we make an initial offer, Hazard rolls 2d6 on this table. He gives a bonus for really good offers (PLATE and SHIELD), high charisma^[2] and the PC's reputation for treatment of hirelings. Or a penalty for bad offers, etc.

2 Offended (-1 further checks)
3-5 Refuses
6-8 Haggles
9-11 Accepts
12 Pleased (+1 loyalty)

If the prospect is offended, he just can't be persuaded and he might spread rumors about you. You take a penalty on any other negotiations for a month or so. If he refuses, you might get him back in the game by doubling your offer, but it's usually not worth it. In case he wants to haggle, he might make a counteroffer, or he could say no (usually politely) and wait for you to make a better one. This is the time to throw in shield (a bonus), so you get another roll on the table.

Shield

Shield is a bonus offered in addition to the usual rate (plate, chain, leather). If offered up front, it usually gets you a +1 bonus on the first negotiation roll. After the first roll, you can offer shield to convince the hire (get another roll), but you get no bonus.

Good examples of shield are more gold, gems, jewelry, paying guild fees, or a magic item (even a potion will do). Bonus gold, gems or jewelry should be at least 20% of the base offer. Offering a small trinket as a bonus or saying you equip all your fighters with plate mail and shield is called a WOODEN SHIELD if it's true. It's good (you might get another roll) but not good enough for a bonus to the roll. If it isn't true, it's called a STRAW SHIELD, the same as promising extra treasure or any other future thing. Offering a straw shield gets you a -1 penalty on the negotiation table. This is because the initial payment usually goes to the hire's family for safe-keeping until he comes out of the dungeon. It serves as his estate if he doesn't make it.

When we were starting out and didn't have much treasure yet, we mostly paid chain. But now we usually have enough gold to pay plate. Our reputation for good pay and fair treatment is pretty good, except for Jinx. He's generous with shield, but his hires have a habit of "giving up the estate."

Loyalty

Initial Loyalty

When the hire accepts an offer, the DM rolls 3d6 for the hireling's loyalty score. Add any bonuses/penalties from the PC's charisma and the negotiation roll. The DM keeps hirelings' loyalty scores secret from the players.

Testing Loyalty

A hireling's loyalty is tested at the end of every adventure, after treasure has been divided and hirelings have been paid their shares. Bonuses and penalties based on treatment during the adventure (+1/-1) and extra treasure (+1) apply. If you didn't get any treasure to distribute, -1 to the roll. You get a +1 if the hire is the same alignment as you and a -1 if the hire's alignment is diametrically opposed to yours (you probably won't know it). Hazard also tests loyalty whenever a hireling is faced with great danger or some moral dilemma concerning the employer, the party, or the mission for example.

Test loyalty with a d20 roll. Rolling the loyalty score or less means his loyalty goes up +1. Higher than the loyalty score means his loyalty goes down -1.

Broken Loyalty

If the loyalty score ever drops below 11, the hireling's loyalty is broken. This means that if the initial loyalty score (3d6) is 10 or less, the hireling probably won't stay with you after the first adventure, unless you manage to get some bonuses on the loyalty test.

When a hireling's loyalty is broken between adventures, he leaves. (Role-play according to circumstances.) If loyalty is broken in the dungeon or some dangerous wilderness, the hireling's morale drops to 10^[3], and he will leave as soon as it's safe. A neutral hire might commit treachery if he can take advantage of a situation. An evil one probably will commit treachery just to be mean.

Saving the hireling's life automatically gains +1 directly to his loyalty score.

Suicide missions, asking to do something against his alignment, or some behavior on the PC's part that is dramatically opposed to the hire's alignment, will automatically break loyalty.

Henchmen

A hireling whose loyalty score reaches 20 becomes a henchman (one adventure minimum). A henchman is a trusted lieutenant to the PC. His loyalty is no longer in question, and he doesn't have to check morale anymore. (A hireling has to pass a morale check when things are looking grim or run away.) A henchman follows the PC in all cases (except extreme cases as above: suicide missions, etc.). A henchman gets a full share of the treasure, and he pays his own way (room and board, etc.). He's a lot like, but not quite, like another PC. The player has full control over the henchman's actions, but don't abuse the privilege (like sharing magic items and stuff like normal 2nd PC rules).

Experience Points

Henchman and hirelings only get half XP. Hazard doubles the number of PCs, then adds the NPCs, then divides the total XP by that number. The PCs get two times the amount, and NPCs just get one.