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Humbly submitted to the editing mercies of the homebrew board:
First, the feat:
Prerequisites: Character level 3rd
Effects: You gain the services of a Henchman NPC. The henchman is two levels lower than you, shares your alignment, and is immensely loyal (for reasons mysterious, since it's certainly not the money). Whenever you gain a level, you may pay the henchman's wages (50 x your new level in gold pieces) in which case the henchman advances a level as well (staying 2 levels behind you). If your henchman ever dies, you may hire a new one by paying your level x 100gp; however, each henchman after the first is limited to a maximum level of one less than the previous henchman. If this would reduce their maximum level to less than 1, your reputation is too poor to hire a new henchman.
So, what are you getting?
Behind every great hero, there is a long-suffering patsy. Okay, perhaps not all great heroes, but Don Quixote had Sancho Panza, Dr. Frankenstein had Igor, and King Arthur had Patsy. Whether they're called a henchman, lackey, hireling, or patsy, a henchman's job is the same: follow their employer and help with whatever tasks need doing. The hard, thankless work henchmen do leads to the ability to endure phenomenal hardships with little more than a resigned, overburdened shrug. Henchmen are doorstops, living shields, beasts of burden, and on rare occasion, the soul of common sense in an adventuring party.
Role: Henchmen do not excel in combat, cast spells, perform incredible physical feats, or bypass obstacles with skill and trickery. Henchmen do the jobs that nobody else wants to do.
Alignment: A henchman may be of any alignment, but typically shares that of his employers.
Hit Die: d6
Base Attack Bonus: poor
Saves: Good Fort, Ref, and Will
Class Skills
Diplomacy (Cha), Perception (Wis), Profession (Porter)(Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis)
Skill Ranks per Level: 2 + Int modifier.
2 - Henchman Duty, Resilience
3 - Quick Draw
4 - Henchman Duty
5 - Damage Reduction
6 - Henchman Duty
7 - Damage Reduction 1/-
8 - Henchman Duty
9 - Stronger Back
10 - Henchman Duty, Damage Reduction 2/-
11 - Unlikely Survivor
12 - Advanced Duty
13 - Damage Reduction 3/-, fast healing
14 - Advanced Duty
15 - Neverending Supplies
16 - Advanced Duty, Damage Reduction 4/-
17 - <currently vacant, oh no!>
18 - Advanced Duty
19 - Damage Reduction 5/-
20 - Advanced Duty, Hidden Talents
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the henchman.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Henchmen are proficient with a single simple weapon of their choice. Henchmen are not proficient with any type of armor or shield.
Clumsy Helper (Ex): While henchmen are theoretically meant to help their employers, this help can be more dangerous than it's worth. When the henchman uses the aid another action, he adds +4 to the roll instead of +2. However, if the action fails despite the henchman's help, all parties involved take 1d6 damage from the resulting mishap (in addition to any other consequences of failure). If the die roll is a natural 1, all involved parties are knocked prone in addition to taking the damage.
Handoff (Ex): When called upon to produce an item, a henchman knows exactly how to hand it off. If a henchman is holding an item ready to be handed to someone else, a friendly character may take the item from the henchman as a swift action.
Strong Back (Ex): Henchmen are expected to carry equipment. A lot of equipment. A henchman's carrying capacity is double the value indicated on table 7-4 in the Core Rulebook for all stages of encumbrance (light, medium, and heavy).
Armor Polishing: The henchman is responsible for making sure you can see your face in that armor. The henchman may spend 1 hour of work to polish a suit of armor to a blinding sheen, granting the wearer a +2 circumstance bonus to charisma-related skill checks for 24 hours. This bonus increases by +1 for every 5 levels the henchman possesses.
Cooking: The henchman is in charge of preparing the food. Once per day, no matter what supplies are available, the henchman may spend 1 hour of work to replicate the effects of a Create Food and Water spell at CL equal to his class level. The henchman must be level 4 before being given this duty.
Decoy: The henchman is in charge of distracting others while the party does it's work. To do this, the henchman makes a spectacle of himself, and each creature within 60 feet that can see and hear the henchman must make a will save at DC 10 + 1/2 henchman level + charisma modifier. Each creature which fails this check takes no hostile action against the henchman, instead peacefully observing as long as he continues the performance, for up to 1d4 minutes. Creatures distracted in this manner take a -4 penalty to reactive skill checks (such as Perception to notice a character using Stealth). Any hostile action breaks the effect, and any particular creature cannot be distracted in this way more than once in a 24 hour period.
Equipment Repair: The henchman is responsible for fixing everything that gets broken. By spending 1 hour of work, the henchman may replicate the effects of the Make Whole spell at CL equal to his class level.
Night Watch: The henchman is in charge of making sure nothing sneaks up on the party at night. The henchman only needs 2 hours of sleep to be fully rested, and takes no penalty to non-visual perception checks while sleeping.
Point Out the Obvious: The henchman is charged with attentively listening to the craziest theories of his employer, and pointing out oversights. 10 minutes of dialog with a henchman provides a friendly character a +2 bonus on any knowledge or bardic knowledge check. This bonus increases by +1 for every 5 levels the henchman possesses. [note: DMs are encouraged to impart insights on behalf of a henchman with this duty].
Poison Taster: The henchman is in charge of making sure the food isn't poisoned. He gains a +2 bonus to fortitude saves against poison. This bonus increases by +1 for every 5 levels he possesses.
Practice Dummy: The henchman is responsible for helping his employer practice and/or demonstrate his techniques. By spending an hour with an ally, the henchman can confer a +1 circumstance bonus to attack rolls that lasts for 24 hours. At level 11, this bonus increases to +2. Helping an ally practice in this way deals 1d6 nonlethal damage to the henchman for every 2 levels the ally possesses (minimum 1d6).
Stepping Block: The henchman is responsible for helping his employer reach difficult places. When using the Aid Another action for Acrobatics checks made to jump or Climb checks, the henchman confers a +8 bonus rather than +4, and does not cause a mishap except on a die roll of 1 (see the Clumsy Helper ability above).
Trap Tester: The henchman is in charge of springing traps for the good of the party. The henchman gains a +2 bonus to reflex saves vs. traps and to his AC against attacks made by traps. This bonus increases by +1 for every 5 levels he possesses.
Torch Bearer: The henchman is in charge of making sure everyone can see where they are going. Any light source the henchman carries doubles its effective lighting range (both for normal light and partial illumination). The henchman may carry a torch or lantern and still use both hands freely.
Weapon Sharpener: The henchmen is in charge of making sure all the weapons stay razor-sharp. The henchman may spend 1 hour honing a weapon to grant it the keen quality. This does not stack with similar effects, and wears off after one day. The henchman must be level 8 or higher to be given this duty.
Resilience (Ex): The henchman is accustomed to unnumbered hardships. Starting at 2nd level, whenever he is dealt hit point damage, he converts an amount of damage equal to half his level to nonlethal damage.
Quick Draw (Ex): At 3rd level, the henchman becomes more skilled at managing his enormous inventory. He gains Quick Draw as a bonus feat, and may retrieve any object carried on his person as a swift action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
Damage Reduction (Ex): Henchman are very used to the hardships of their job, and grow more resilient with time. Starting at level 7, the henchman gains damage reduction 1/-, allowing him to ignore one point of damage every time he is struck by a weapon or natural attack. This reduction increases by +1 at 10th level and every 3 levels thereafter.
Stronger Back (Ex): At level 9, the henchman's carrying capacity increases to quadruple the value indicated on table 7-4 in the Core Rulebook for all stages of encumbrance (light, medium, and heavy). The henchman may move his full speed no matter how encumbered he is.
Advanced Duties (Ex): At 10th level and every 2 levels thereafter, the henchman may be given an advanced duty in place of a henchman duty.
Chef: The henchman is in charge of producing exceptional food from nowhere. Once per day, no matter what supplies are available, the henchman may spend 1 hour of work to replicate the effects of a Heroes Feast spell at CL equal to his level. The henchman must already have the Cooking duty to select this duty.
Curse Tester: The henchman is in charge of making sure the party is not exposed to dangerous cursed items. Whenever a henchman tries to use an item, that item functions immediately as though it were being seriously used (such as in a fight with a dangerous foe). A henchman may struggle with a cursed item for 1 minute to replicate the effects of a Remove Curse spell cast at CL equal to his level.
Evidence Disposal: The henchman is in charge of cleaning up the mess from his employer's... accidents. Barring exceptional circumstances, a henchman can dispose of any body he is capable of carrying in 1 minute by making a Stealth check against DC 15. Success means he is not seen, and the final result is the Perception DC to find the body during later inspection. For each round the henchman spends cleaning, he increases Perception and Survival DCs to glean information about any particular incident (crime) by 1, to a maximum increase equal to his level. The henchman may also cover a party's tracks while traveling at full speed.
Living Shield: The henchman is responsible for keeping his employers safe in a fight. Once per round per adjacent ally, when the ally would be struck by a melee attack, they may choose to redirect the attack to the henchman.
Shotput: The henchman must stand in when no other ranged weapon will do. As long as he is carrying a light load, the henchman can be thrown as a standard action by a friendly creature of his own size or larger with a minimum strength of 17 or more. The henchman has a range increment of 20 feet and deals 2d8 damage plus 1 1/2 times the thrower's strength modifier to both the target and the henchman (less the henchman's damage reduction). The henchman counts as a weapon of his own alignment for the purposes of overcoming damage reduction.
Spell Shield: The henchman is responsible for keeping his employer safe from spells. Whenever an adjacent ally is subject to a spell or effect that permits a reflex save for half damage, they may interpose the henchman between themselves and the effect. If they do so, they take no damage on a successful save, and only half damage on a failed save. Only one ally can use a henchman in this way per attack. The henchman takes half damage from the effect with no opportunity to save (although if he were also subjected to the same attack as the ally, he takes no additional damage for shielding the ally - he simply saves and takes half damage, or fails and takes full damage).
Walking Target: The henchman is responsible for taking arrows for his employers. Once per round per adjacent ally, when the ally would be struck by a ranged attack, they may choose to redirect the attack to the henchman.
Unlikely Survivor (Su): The henchman has a knack for not dying. Starting at 11th level, the first time each day the henchman is killed, he is immediately subject to a resurrection effect. If he was killed by by hit point damage, he is immediately subject to a Breath of Life spell at CL equal to his level. If he was killed by a death effect, he is subject to a Raise Dead spell at CL equal to his caster level. As there is no caster for these effects, they require no material components. He may use this ability twice per day at level 15, and three times per day at level 19.
Fast Healing (Ex): Starting at 13th level, the henchman has spent so much time recovering from injuries that he has developed an extraordinary ability to do so. He gains fast healing 1. This increases to fast healing 2 at level 17, and fast healing 5 at level 20.
Neverending Supplies (Su): Starting at level 15, the henchman can produce items from his pack as though it were a Robe of Useful Items. In addition to the default items, his inventory can produce up to 4 randomly determined items from the Robe's chart. Used items restock at a rate of two per day, with the default items returning first.
Hidden Talents: At level 20, the henchman can unleash hitherto unrevealed abilities. Once per day for one full round, the henchman may act as though he had access to all the class features of a level 20 member of any single other core class. This includes all class abilities that are automatically acquired (such as spell-like abilities, sneak attack, channel energy, or flurry of blows) but not abilities that must be specifically chosen (such as weapon training, feats, favored enemies, or spells). Alternatively, the henchman may spontaneously cast a single arcane or divine spell of any level, as long as its casting time is less than one full round and he has sufficient Intelligence or Charisma (for arcane spells) or Wisdom (for divine spells) to cast it. He must cast the spell normally, risking any spell failure chance and attacks of opportunity as normal, and must supply all material components required for the spell.
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So... anybody have any cool or funny ideas for duties that I missed?
Anybody think that it's too powerful?
Anybody have a nagging, perverse desire to actually play a character like this in a game?
I really like your henchmen, seems fun to play but I would consider it only as npc an class and may allow occasional player at the table to run the npc for the group. Or having a group of henchmen working for a large party and having the "heroes" as npc instead.
I love this! Bravo!
I really like your henchmen, seems fun to play but I would consider it only as npc an class and may allow occasional player at the table to run the npc for the group. Or having a group of henchmen working for a large party and having the "heroes" as npc instead.
Speaking of NPC classes, I wish Paizo would do like the old days and make some classes that are intended to be for NPC's only. They would break certain rules that in a player's hands would be too problematic but under the control of the DM would be fine. I liked lots of the old obscure NPC only classes and thought they added a lot of flavor to the game.
Heh, I'm glad people seem to enjoy it. Some observations, since I was too sleepy to include them when I posted the class last night:
- The Lackey feat and subsequent cohort are meant to follow DM-approval outlines, just like the Leadership feat. I certainly wouldn't want every character to just plan on having a bumbling doofus following them around.
- The intended function of the class is a comic relief NPC and mouthpiece for the DM in the party. That said, I wanted them to be *just* good enough to perhaps be interesting to someone with no interest in the conventional D&D roles.
- A few of the core abilities *are* pretty potent; this is deliberate, and meant to compensate for the fact that a henchman is individually useless in combat, and fairly crummy everywhere else as well.
- Specifically, the combination of good saves, Resilient, Fast Healing, Damage Reduction, and Unlikely Survivor mean that a henchman is almost impossible to kill with damage over time. Their d6 hp is meant to balance this - a henchman recovers from hits very quickly, but he never starts at a very impressive HP total. That said, there may be one too many abilities in that vein. I'm thinking of cutting the DR since, well, it's just not as funny.
- Create Food and Water and Heroes Feast effects are meant to be preposterous as (Ex) abilities. I'm aware Heroes Feast is a very good spell, but a cleric of lower level could cast it in less time, far more often per day.
- I'm toying with making Neverending Supplies (Ex) as well, because nonsense is the name of the game. Does anybody know how Paizo looks on such specific references to their magic items?
- I'd be happy to hear new ideas for duties and other class abilities. I'm at the point where my new additions aren't feeling flavorful so much as mechanical, which is a boring spot to be. Help me out?
Really Good idea, i will definatly include one of these in my group soon, as an npc the players get given by there contract giver. The only thinh im going to change is the will save. I think flavour wise its better that hes weekminded. Also the badguys mindcontrolling the minion is awesome. thanks alot.
I think this is an excellent idea. I also think that calling the feat 'Lackey' sounds better than 'Hireling', because it is more specific. But that is just my 2 cp.
Really Good idea, i will definatly include one of these in my group soon, as an npc the players get given by there contract giver. The only thinh im going to change is the will save. I think flavour wise its better that hes weekminded. Also the badguys mindcontrolling the minion is awesome. thanks alot.
Yeah, that one's a coin toss. I made it high because I envision most henchman as world-weary and steadfast in the face of adversity - as much or moreso than their ridiculous employers. I mean, it's only a dragon, right? THEY were the ones who wanted to come here in the first place....
Also, I envision Watson as henchman to Sherlock Holmes, with the Point Out the Obvious and Evidence Disposal duties. And Watson definitely ought to be strong-willed.
I think this is an excellent idea. I also think that calling the feat 'Lackey' sounds better than 'Hireling', because it is more specific. But that is just my 2 cp.
I'm actually toying with changing the class name to Lackey to be gender neutral (we're equal opportunity abusive employers!) so I'd left it out. There are a bunch of appropriate words to use for these guys, so I just went with Henchman to start (Nodwick, y'know).
I assume unlikely survivor is meant to use class levels instead of caster level?
Ah, oops, yes. I do indeed mean class levels :). Good catch.
Since my players' characters already have a semi-comical hireling who keeps a watch on their horses when they go into dungeons, runs some errands, stuff like that. I think I'll stat him out as a Henchman.
Ooh, new Duty!
Errands: The henchman is responsible for doing all the shopping. After any visit to civilization, the henchman will have added to his inventory enough rations for 2 weeks for up to 10 members of the party (himself and mounts included), as well as any other adventuring gear appropriate for the environment that costs 10 gp or less (including tents, lanterns, cold weather clothing, blankets, rope, grappling hooks, pitons, shovel, crowbar, etc.). At employer request, he can also purchase any other items locally available, but will need to need to be given money to do so. The henchman always pays a maximum of list price, even if prices are otherwise inflated - somehow he finds the bargains.
I ussually dont like Homebrew stuff but i love these guys they are great and allow a little comedy during down time
If I weren't already playing something of a serious game, I'd be using this guy in a heartbeat.
I will definitely be using this later. Good job!
I can actually see a decent campaign being based around the players being Henchmen/Lackeys.
The premise would be that they are constantly availing their services to "heroes", who go off to do adventures... and promptly bite off more than they can chew (and most likely die, or at least fail).
The PCs would get to choose which heroes they want to follow, like deciding what "quest" or "adventure hook" they want to do, but then have to follow the instructions given by the "heroes".
When the "heroes" die their glorious (or inglorious) deaths, the PCs are free to run away or win the battle (if they can), whatever they want.
But eventually they'll come back to the city to pick up in a new adventuring group to start all over.
Eventually, the PCs-as-Henchmen would become more resilient and possibly more powerful than the heroes they are attaching themselves to.
To put it simply: "I know it sounds crazy, but they both have that rare blend of expendable and invulnerable that makes for a perfect henchman." (The Monarch, Venture Brothers)
To give a little more variance between the players, I'd probably allow a gestalt with NPC classes (Adept, Expert, or Warrior).
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Of course, between the higher than normal railroading and the lack of normal class features, this would definitely be treated as a comic, stress relief, throwaway game, rather than a serious campaign setting.
All mechanics aside, I'd expect most of the play sessions will be roleplaying as long suffering lackeys that "hench4life".