Leadership


Alpha Playtest Feedback General Discussion


First let me say that I am pleased by your decision to expand on the 3.5 SRD. While I do not agree with any change in the alpha release it think it is an huge improvement over the original rules.
Recently I decided that my Cleric will take Leadership as his 9th level feat. Reading the rules in the SRD I discovered lots of quirky stuff:

SRD wrote:


Cohort Level: The character can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of a character's Leadership score, he can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than himself.
[...]
Cohorts earn XP as follows: The cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party's XP.

Divide the cohort's level by the level of the PC with whom he or she is associated (the character with the Leadership feat who attracted the cohort).
Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to the PC and add that number of experience points to the cohort's total.

Example:

[quote=]
Leader is 10th level, after he gains 10000 Exp he reaches 11th level.
If his cohort is 8th level he gains 8/10*10000=8000 Exp when his leader reaches 11. lvl. This is exactly the amount of EXP he needs to reach 9th level.
If his cohort is 7th level he gains 7/10*10000=7000 Exp. This is exactly the amount of EXP he needs to reach 8th level.
...
If his cohort is 1st level he gains 1/10*10000=1000 Exp. This is exactly the amount of EXP he needs to reach 2nd level.

So a cohort that is, for whatever reason, not at his maximum level could never catch up.

Also, if a leader slips out of his cloak of charisma for any reason: Will his suddenly surplus followers know? Will his cohort loose a level he could not regain?

Basically the whole mechanism screams for an adjustment.

Dark Archive

I've always felt that Leadership is a great idea, but badly implemented.

The idea of having a cohort, of a lesser level, seems fine to me. However, if you want a cohort who is a wizard who sits at home and builds magic items, he will quickly fall behind and never catch up. Compared to an animal companion, special mount, or familiar, this isn't fair.

The idea of followers is great, but honestly, it's an annoyance to run right now, because who needs 60 1st level Experts?

I'm going to take my hand at re-writing the Leadership feat and posting it here tonight ...

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

I'd like to see a touchup on this feat as well.

  • limit leadership to the base Charisma, this solves the 'Cloak of Charisma' issue.
  • more details on cohorts and followers.
  • rules for 'feeding' XP to the cohort, or followers as well.
  • mechanics for the cohort's loyalty affecting saves. "Well your cohort choked the cleric, murdered the mage, ravished the rogue, slew the sorcerer, but because of his loyalty to you fought off the compuslion and saved you from the demon."
  • Rules for 'promoting' followers.

    Oh, and if you're talking about 60 first level experts, two words come to mind... "Aid another."


  • Matthew Morris wrote:

    I'd like to see a touchup on this feat as well.

  • limit leadership to the base Charisma, this solves the 'Cloak of Charisma' issue.
  • I would like to see some love for lower Charisma chars.

    How about allowing to add a chars main attribute to the mix? Eg. a warrior could take the average of Strenght and Charisma as his value.

    Matthew Morris wrote:


  • mechanics for the cohort's loyalty affecting saves. "Well your cohort choked the cleric, murdered the mage, ravished the rogue, slew the sorcerer, but because of his loyalty to you fought off the compuslion and saved you from the demon."
  • That is a great idea!

    Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

    Tholas wrote:

    I would like to see some love for lower Charisma chars.

    How about allowing to add a chars main attribute to the mix? Eg. a warrior could take the average of Strenght and Charisma as his value.
    Quote:

    My worry would be that this would make Charisma more of the 'who needs it if you're not a Bard/Paladin/Sorcerer?' Lower Charisma characters just need to milk the leadership modifiers more than higher level ones. "Sir John the plain jumped in front of the Lightning Bolt to save his cohort's life! Sir William of Prescot said 'I'll just get another, that's what being dashing is about.' Of course I'll follow Sir John!"

    Matthew Morris wrote:


  • mechanics for the cohort's loyalty affecting saves. "Well your cohort choked the cleric, murdered the mage, ravished the rogue, slew the sorcerer, but because of his loyalty to you fought off the compuslion and saved you from the demon."
  • That is a great idea!

    Thank you.


    Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
    Tholas wrote:

    First let me say that I am pleased by your decision to expand on the 3.5 SRD. While I do not agree with any change in the alpha release it think it is an huge improvement over the original rules.

    I think he means to say he does not agree with ALL changes, not that he does not agree with ANY of them. :)


    Zaister wrote:
    In an acute outbreak of Denglish Tholas wrote:

    First let me say that I am pleased by your decision to expand on the 3.5 SRD. While I do not agree with any change in the alpha release it think it is an huge improvement over the original rules.

    I think he means to say he does not agree with ALL changes, not that he does not agree with ANY of them. :)

    That's my GM, always ready to point out my blunders. ;-)

    Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

    Hey there all,

    Rest assured that Leadership is a strange little subsystem that I hope to address in an upcoming Alpha release. Stay tuned (but feel free to give ideas).

    Jason Bulmahn
    Lead Designer

    Dark Archive Contributor

    Jason Bulmahn wrote:

    Hey there all,

    Rest assured that Leadership is a strange little subsystem that I hope to address in an upcoming Alpha release. Stay tuned (but feel free to give ideas).

    Jason Bulmahn
    Lead Designer

    I'd like to see a set of feats that a body could take to improve his Leadership... subsystem... score... thingy. Whatever you decide on, there should be ways a character could become better at it independent of level and Charisma. Please. :)

    Liberty's Edge

    60 1st level experts get to stay home and bake bread, clean the castle and take care of the horse.

    As for the using the primary stat for the class I like that idea. I mean, who really cares if Conan the Barbarian is a great orator. He kicks butt and I would follow him into battle all day.

    Grand Lodge

    My DMing experiences with Leadership (and commanding clerics or enchanters) has always been a bad one. The addition of more NPCs that need to be managed, controlled and monitored causes the whole game to slow down to a crawl. the only person who seems to be having fun is the character with the feat.

    However I see the reasoning for Leadership but agree it has been poorly implemented.

    What I recommend is that Leadership should be a tool for any character who becomes a spokesman of the adventuring party. Instead of providing followers and a cohort, the feat should provide the character with a benefit that affects his companions. Be that a flat bonus to his companions (similar to a bless spell), an ability that can be used to improve his allies actions (like aid another), or a host of new abilities that enhance his allies options (perhaps like haste).

    In addition the feat could provide a bonus to characters who benefit from animal companions, special mounts etc. but you would need to provide a similar benefit for those classes that don't gain such allies.


    Well one thing I'd like to see addressed at the same time is mass combat. I take Leadership, I hit lv 20, I have literally hundreds of loyal vassals. and aside from a cohort I'll probably never use them for anything significant because doing so at the moment involves more rolls than a year in vegas.

    Some guidelines for handling massed troops, commercial and criminal guilds ect, to give something concrete to do with loyal followers would help those who take the feat, and perhaps encourage others to take it.

    Sovereign Court

    The Leadership feat is nice for flavor (please lead us, mighty dragonslayer!) but a bit clunky. This is another one of those options my players have consistantly avoided due to the math involved.

    Let's see if we can make this work without a leadership score.
    (Optional) Leadership
    You attract a powerful cohort and many followers.
    Prereq: character level 6th
    Effects: You gain the loyal service of one NPC. That NPC's ECL = the PC's character level -2. You gain the loyal service of 30 1st level commoners. Add +10 to the number of commoners for each of the following: PC's CHA modifier, PC's character level -6, and heroic acts that save or support a non-hostile community as determined by the DM.

    Masterful Leadership
    Prereq: Leadership, character level 8th
    Effects: Allies within 30ft of you gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves vs. fear effects.
    Also choose one of the following effects: Your cohort's ECL is now equal to your character level; You gain the service of 15 4th level warriors, or; triple the number of 1st level commoners in your service.

    It's still wordy, but I hope it's something worth considering.


    Since there are few cases where followers are used, why not split them into seperate feats...or rather make a cohort feat and set up some guidelines for hiring and maintaining followers for specific stories (such as stronghold staff or a military campaign).

    Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

    Leadership is one of the clunkiest bits of third edition.

    I am hoping (and pushing) for a major overhaul.

    Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8

    Thraxus wrote:
    Since there are few cases where followers are used, why not split them into seperate feats...or rather make a cohort feat and set up some guidelines for hiring and maintaining followers for specific stories (such as stronghold staff or a military campaign).

    That would work. I played a high level game once, where I was a battle sorcerer, my cohort was a warmage, my highest level follower was a level 5 warlock, and her and the rest of the cohorts managed my shipping contacts and manned my flatboat.

    Leadership score, I think it needs to be a bit clunky to a) keep it tied to charisma, and b) allow a number of in game factors to reflect on it. I also think it will clean up when you revamp CR/ECL rules.


    Kerflop wrote:
    As for the using the primary stat for the class I like that idea. I mean, who really cares if Conan the Barbarian is a great orator. He kicks butt and I would follow him into battle all day.

    But isn't that a factor of including level in the calculations? A 10th level barbarian is a better warrior than a 6th level one, regardless of their comparitive strength levels.

    Plus, as much as Conan's followers might admire his combat skills, I can see how he'd be able to attract even more followers by tossing in a motivating speech from time to time.

    I'm totally okay with cohorts being based off of character level and charisma.

    Dark Archive

    Here's my stab at Leadership, to simplify it and remove some of the game-breakers...

    LEADERSHIP [GENERAL]
    You are the sort of person others want to follow, and you have done some work attempting to recruit cohorts and followers.
    Prerequisite: Character level 6th.
    Benefits: Having this feat enables the character to either attract a loyal cohort or devoted followers.
    Cohorts: If a cohort is chosen, the character gains a second character under their control. The cohort can be designed using the elite stat array, and be of any class. The starting level will be determined as follows:
    The base starting level of a cohort is four levels below the current level of the character, modified by the Leader’s Charisma modifier.
    If the cohort has levels in a prestige class, its starting level will be one lower. If the cohort is of a different race than the Leader, it will be one lower. If the Leader already has a cohort, familiar, special mount, animal companion, or some other secondary companion, the cohort will be two levels lower. If the cohort is to have a different alignment than the Leader, it will start one level lower. In any case, the cohort cannot be any more then two levels below that of the Leader.
    Cohorts must be given a half-share of treasure in a party, but do not take a share of experience – they level up as their Leader does.
    Followers: If the Leader choses to have followers, they may have 3x their character level in followers, modified as follows:
    If the Leader has a stronghold or base of operations, they may have 4x their character level in followers.
    They may divide these levels of followers in any way and number they choose. In any case, a follower can be no greater than five levels below that of the Leader.
    As the Leader advances in level, they gain further followers, or they can add their extra levels to advance their followers (staying within their limits).
    Followers do not require a share of treasure, but they must be paid a fair wage (2 gp per character level per month).
    Special: This feat may be taken more than once, to either gain followers and cohorts, or multiple followers or cohorts.
    If a follower spends experience points due to spells, magic item creation, or other game effects, these costs are withdrawn from the leader.
    Maintenance or upkeep must be paid by the leader for their cohorts and followers, to the same standard or level of themselves.


    Archade wrote:
    Here's my stab at Leadership, to simplify it and remove some of the game-breakers...~skip~ Maintenance or upkeep must be paid by the leader for their cohorts and followers, to the same standard or level of themselves.

    Nice idea for calculating the cohorts level. Very nice, though I wouldn't allow more than one leadership feat per player personally, it was smart of you to include the half-share and so on in it, as thats unclear in the current rules.

    Liberty's Edge

    My biggest issue with leadership and cohorts is that they tend to slow game play down. Unfortunately I don't know what the solution is (if there even can be a solution).


    Archade wrote:

    Here's my stab at Leadership, to simplify it and remove some of the game-breakers...

    I like most of what you did for the leadership feat. It would be nice if you added some bonuses to the feat to acquire a higher level cohort (your level -2 still the max). Also I don't agree with the upkeep. I can see it with your cohort, as long as he's on the adventure with you, but the hirelings are supposedly making money doing their jobs also. They should not have an upkeep requirement.

    An optional side to this, how about followers that think their hero is the absolute greatest, and would do anything? In game terms what I mean is that you are a celebrity, and have people that just love you. So as a DM can you can transfer that information you want the party to have very easily. I would reduce the number to maybe one per level, but let them be useful. Possibly a shopkeeper that gives a 10% discount, a ship's captain that is always willing to transport the party for his hero, etc. Once the person is used, he becomes one of the many followers. This way there aren't too many to keep track of, and you don't need to know all the stats.


    I don't claim to have solutions, but if Leadership is going to be reworked, I would love to see:

    1) Basic leadership shouldn't be a feat at all. Reasonably, once someone reaches a certain level of noterity follows will come. Now a feat that gives bonuses I can see. So maybe a character can attact 3 x lvl followers of maimum of lvl - 2 levels. Leadership increases effective level by X and can be taken multiple times. Maybe it grants a moral bonus of some kind. But a 10th level anything, even without a feat, can reasonably expect to have a handful of followers running "home" while they are out adventuring.

    2) I'd also really like to see an option for a Cohort of higher level than the character. Fiction is filled with this, particularly of the form Noble X has follower Y who is clearly more experienced than the noble. Currently there is simply no way to simulate this within in rules, so this is one area a fix would be nice.

    The main problem I have had with leadership is that, as a feat, players feel like they need to get "their money's worth". Limiting the need for a feat to have any followers would allow for high level campaigns, which should have them, without players feeling like they need to field armies every time they leave home.


    Here's my take on Leadership...

    Leadership scores are not affected by non-permanent items (ie. cloak of charisma).

    Leadership is taken as a feat because, lets face it, not everyone wants to stand out in a crowd, let alone attract an army of followers. So it requires a bit of effort (a feat) to become popular enough to attract a following.

    Cohorts are a lower level then the PC because, they want to learn from / feed off the fame or wealth of the PC. If the cohort was a higher level then the PC, they would probably have their own fame, wealth, knowledge, etc. and would have a following of their own (if they wanted). Bodyguards and/or hirelings may be higher level because they are being paid to hang around.

    When a PC leaves for an adventure, he/she needs not take an army with them, but rather would leave their men at a 'base' until called for. When a king goes for a ride, he leaves his main army behind. He brings his bodyguards and friends and that's it.

    Anyways, these are my opinions. Feel free to ignore them if you wish, maybe they will help someone. I don't intend any offense and am not picking on someone's post. These are just some things I noticed were being discussed and thought I'm give my 2 cp.


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    Remember that 3.5's attempts to overhaul Leadership (such as Power of Feyrun) are not Open Content, and so you'd have to go back to the drawing board. That's not actually a bad thing though.

    First: Cohorts should not even have XP. It's a pain in the ass and 90% of the time it doesn't matter anyway because the cohort levels when the PC does. The Cohort should just level when the PC does and be done with it.

    Second: 2 levels down on the power curve is actually kind of high. Ideally (and in many cases actually), a character 2 levels down is half as powerful as you. This means that a character who invests in 2 Leadership style feats can theoretically (and actually in many cases) sit back and let his two assistants do everything. The level rubric should be Character Level - 3 rather than - 2.

    Third: Having complicated formulae to determine whether you are allowed a level appropriate Cohort is just stupid. They should always come level appropriate. And that also means that they should never jerk you around on Level Adjustment. If you are entitled to a CR 5 cohort you should get a CR 5 cohort, not a hippogriff that a 3rd level Druid could summon with a spontaneous nature's ally.

    Finally: Remember the Leadership positions of AD&D? Those were awesome. Leadership should be more like that. And by that I mean that Leadership should be divided into a series of [Leadership] Feats that give you various sundry armies to throw around. Fun ones could include:

    • General of Undeath - you get a Cohort who is an undead monster 3 CR less than your level. In addition you get an army of the dead to lead around. And please make it be an actual army of the dead rather than the current animate dead limits that make you just invest in a handful of Fire Giant Skeletons.

    • Call the Horde in addition to your cohort, who is a warrior, giant, or magical beast of 3 CR less than your level, you get a horde of Orcs.

    • Friend to Animals You get a cohort who is a magical beast or a ranger or something. And you get an army of animals and magical beasts.

    • Guild Master You get a Rogue or Wizard cohort and a team of ninja halflings.

    That kind of thing. The thing where you got a pile of weird animals and Merry Men working for you automagically for being a 9th level Ranger was awesome, and by throwing it down to a check list of N creatures of CR X and M creatures of CR Y it can actually be something that is reasonably balanced.

    -Frank


    Mike McArtor wrote:
    I'd like to see a set of feats that a body could take to improve his Leadership... subsystem... score... thingy. Whatever you decide on, there should be ways a character could become better at it independent of level and Charisma. Please. :)

    Ah, you mean an OGC version of something like all the "Leader" feats that WotC has published in the past (that do exactly that, and have their own feat category type).


    Sometimes Leadership is exactly what you need to complete a PC's schtick. You coudln't really be Dr. Evil without Mini Me, for instance. We have an unwritten rule in our group that cohorts should be unobtrusive. Bards, for example, are great. They just sing and give everybody a bonus, so their turns tend to take about 5 seconds. Clerics who focus on healing are good too since few PCs enjoy the "medic" role.

    I want cohorts to be characters who help round out the PC's roleplaying story and can shore up a party who is missing a healer or trap finder. I don't want cohorts to be superstars who steal people's fire. In 3.5 a cohort two levels behind the leader is often just a single level behind a PC who has died or fallen behind in XP due to missing a few games. Cohorts who are about 4-5 levels behind the leader seem more reasonable to me.

    The problem is that these weak cohorts might have a hard time surviving. There would need to be some way to keep them from getting slaughtered instantly. I think the PFRPG improved low level HP and chance to survive going to negative HP should help in this regards, but giving the cohort stuff like saving throw bonuses based on the leader might help too. Besides preventing cohorts from stepping on PC toes having fewer and weaker offensive powers might help reduce the amount of time cohorts take at the table.

    On the other hand, I'd like to see followers become more powerful. One of the most common uses I've seen for Leadership is to become a ship captain (pirate or otherwise). Unfortunately the followers provided by Leadership can barely sail much less survive a fight. One Fireball and these guys are all toast. Allowing the followers to be PC classes would give them access to the low level HP boosts in PFRPG, and this might help a lot. I think the followers could also safely advance in level a little more quickly than they do in 3.5. I mean, if they're 8 levels or more back you're not going to drag them into combat much I'd bet. They'd be guys an enemy of your CR wouldn't even get XP for killing ;)

    Scarab Sages

    John Weatherman wrote:
    I'd also really like to see an option for a Cohort of higher level than the character. Fiction is filled with this, particularly of the form Noble X has follower Y who is clearly more experienced than the noble. Currently there is simply no way to simulate this within in rules, so this is one area a fix would be nice.

    The Jeeves & Wooster syndrome?

    Dark Archive

    Leadership is VERY clunky... As it sets a system that is too formulatic and isn't a free formed as it should be. Yes it shouldn't be based on just your Charisma modifier. This bad as all you need is someone to go out and get a Cloak of Charisma +4 and a Circlet of Persuasion and we just have someone who has just surpased what is normal as he went out to enhance his/her score from items.

    It should be based on your primary Ability modifier + half you Charisma modifier, rounded up, with any negatives from Charisma becoming 0. I would also rule it has to be just your base ability with no magical modifiers. As if we didn't the Followers would be worshiping the Cloak of Charisma and the belt of Giant Strength of the Fighter not the Fighter himself, and that is Idolitry, which is a whole other can of worms I don't even want to think about.

    This also forces us to decide what the Primary Ability of Paladins and Rangers are, I tend to lean towards Wisdom or Charisma for the Paladin and Dexterity for the Ranger. Yes this systes ensures that Bards and Sorceres get more out of Charisma as normal, but with limited feats they tend to avoid feats that do not enhance their abilities or their combat uses.

    I also like the idea of Feats that help augment one's leadership score. I know Eberron had the Ecclesiarch Feat, which gave the character Gather Information and Knowledge Local as class skills as well as a +2 bonus to Leadership. I like nifty little feats like this with a fair prerequisite. (Knowledge-religion 6 ranks in this case)


    In regards to have a cohort more powerful than the PC, I think that allowing the player to bring in an NPC of above the average party level would be a very bad idea. However, with roleplaying and a little poetic license you can simulate this kind of relationship with the existing Leadership feat. Just have the PC defer to his NPC cohort as if the NPC is his superior. I did this before to provide my monk/drunken master with a spiritual leader, a monkey with druid levels who rode around on him. The drunken master was much more powerful than the druid in combat, but he felt compelled to obey the monkey on his back.


    I'd like the PCs to have the "option" of having a few say charisma mod plus up to 1/level 1st - 2nd level NPCs with NPC classes (Warriors, Experts, Adepts)for followers without a feat basically enough to man a fortified manor in a small thorp, hamlet or village.

    I'd like to see a DM optional Leadership feat expanding on the basic followers with fighters being the most common follower PC level - 2, partial casters PC level - 4, limited full casters with limited spell selection like a sorcerer at PC level - 6 and a full caster like Clerics, Druids and Wizards at PC level - 8.


    Frank Trollman wrote:

    Finally: Remember the Leadership positions of AD&D? Those were awesome. Leadership should be more like that. And by that I mean that Leadership should be divided into a series of [Leadership] Feats that give you various sundry armies to throw around. Fun ones could include:

    General of Undeath - you get a Cohort who is an undead monster 3 CR less than your level. In addition you get an army of the dead to lead around. And please make it be an actual army of the dead rather than the current animate dead limits that make you just invest in a handful of Fire Giant Skeletons.

    Call the Horde in addition to your cohort, who is a warrior, giant, or magical beast of 3 CR less than your level, you get a horde of Orcs.

    Friend to Animals You get a cohort who is a magical beast or a ranger or something. And you get an army of animals and magical beasts.

    Guild Master You get a Rogue or Wizard cohort and a team of ninja halflings.

    I have something similar in mind. Instead of one feat allowing access to both a cohort and followers, what if you had several feats allowing variations on it, depending on your use for them? Here's the three I was thinking of as rough examples; a player could take all three if they like, but they'd gain more powerful followers/cohorts if they took the follow-up feats instead.

    - A feat that gives you one constant, dedicated cohort that remains close to you in relative power level. They have a high profile, almost like another party member. This is the sidekick, the squire, the assistant and companion (Rose Tyler, I'm lookin at you). Follow-up feats give them and your additional bonuses for working together, or let you have one or more companions at increasingly lower level.

    - Another feat that gives you several followers of lesser power; their uses may vary, but for the most part they can remain in the background providing some sort of support. The guild members, your ship's crew, or your dedicated dojo of students could fit this role. Follow-up feats increase their efficiency or the variety of support they provide.

    - A third feat that gives many followers, but of extremely low power. They help demonstrate the far-reaching influence you've garnered. These are the soldiers, the peasants in your barony, the followers of your righteous message. Follow-up feats each increase the number of followers (say, 2x the amount per feat), while also awarding titles, land, even a keep or church.

    Below is one early write-up I'll introduce into my Pathfinder campaign: all references to primary ability scores are chosen by the player when they take the feat, cannot be changed, and refer to unmodified ability scores. I'll include others and follow-up feats as I write them.

    Mentor - Requires character level 6 - You attract a loyal cohort to follow you. The cohort is two levels below yours, and gains levels when you do. They also gain a bonus to attacks, saves, skill checks, and CMB equal to your primary ability score bonus, as well as additional hit points equal to their HD multiplied by your primary ability score bonus. They join you with a suit of masterwork armor, a masterwork weapon, mundane class equipment (thieves' tools, musical instrument, etc) and no money; all other items needed to be provided by your or your party.

    Example - A 9th-level paladin takes Mentor, and gains a 7th level bard squire. The paladin chooses Charisma as her primary score (she has a 16), so the bard gains a +3 bonus to attacks, skill checks, saves, and CMB, as well as 21 additional hit points.

    * Just as a note, I'm using the Constitution method of starting hit points for all PCs, but the standard method for all NPCs, so the squire's additional hit points is around what the players received at first level, or maybe a bit higher.

    The numbers are very rough, completely untested, so feel free to correct me if the balance is a bit wonky. Cheers!

    Sovereign Court

    Frank Trollman wrote:

    Finally: Remember the Leadership positions of AD&D? Those were awesome. Leadership should be more like that. And by that I mean that Leadership should be divided into a series of [Leadership] Feats that give you various sundry armies to throw around. Fun ones could include:

    General of Undeath - you get a Cohort who is an undead monster 3 CR less than your level. In addition you get an army of the dead to lead around. And please make it be an actual army of the dead rather than the current animate dead limits that make you just invest in a handful of Fire Giant Skeletons.

    Call the Horde in addition to your cohort, who is a warrior, giant, or magical beast of 3 CR less than your level, you get a horde of Orcs.

    Friend to Animals You get a cohort who is a magical beast or a ranger or something. And you get an army of animals and magical beasts.

    Guild Master You get a Rogue or Wizard cohort and a team of ninja halflings.

    That kind of thing. The thing where you got a pile of weird animals and Merry Men working for you automagically for being a 9th level Ranger was awesome, and by throwing it down to a check list of N creatures of CR X and M creatures of CR Y it can actually be something that is reasonably balanced.

    Don't forget

    CastellanYou get a squire (fighter cohort) and a gang of warriors and experts.

    rotrl spoiler

    Spoiler:
    If all of my players (ranger, fighter, wizard, cleric, rogue) took this kind of leadership and left them all at Fort Rannick the region would get a lot safer

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