An Old Simulationist's Thoughts on Mercenaries and Advanced Hirelings

[EWHM]

If you look at 3.X edition vs earlier editions, you'd notice that mercenaries and other hired followers are far less prevalent in most people's games than they once were. I'm going to argue that they can, and should, be used much more often.

A look at the economy in vanilla 3.x shows that among level 1's, skilled people typically make about 1 gp/day (half their craft or profession roll per week, if we assume a +4 bonus and a take 10, this is 7 gp/week or 1 gp/day). Unskilled people make 1 sp/day. Most of the people that a group of PC's might want to hire fall into the skilled category (frequently profession:soldier), so let's consider that group.

Let's look at your typical level 1 warrior with profession:soldier. If you make 1 gp/day, you've got an income on the order of 365 GP/year. One could reasonably assume that your government shakes 20% out of you and your church another 10%, those aren't terribly uncommon numbers in the real world. Your income is approximately 10x the average unskilled laborer's, so you're not doing badly at all. You probably even have a servant or two at home making 1 sp/day. So, aside from your living expenses, what might motivate you to consider exceptionally dangerous but highly lucrative employment with a band of adventurers?

The biggest ones, as I see it, are affording magical (specifically priestly) services. Cure disease, remove blindness/deafness, and remove curse are the biggies, and these are nontrivial hazards in a non-modern world. They're level 3 spells castable by a level 5 cleric, so they run about 150 GP each---probably half a year's salary for said warrior. That's a lot of money. For a comparison to today, imagine a 30k medical bill, that has to be paid in advance, for a family with an income of 60k/year....ouch. But is it worth it? Most people would say oh hell yes. Imagine your number one son has been blinded, perhaps in a combat or just a not terribly uncommon accident. Lots of soldiers would accept a fairly high level of risk to pay for that. Or to remove a curse, or fix a debilitating disease, or the like.
The next biggie is restoration--specifically, restoration of permanent attribute damage (you'll notice a lot of diseases can cause this). It's quite expensive, being level 4---so 280 GP plus an extra 100 for the material component---fixing a negative level is more expensive, but not usually a problem for level 1 types :-)). There you're talking over a year of income! The next big one is regenerate---level 7, requiring a level 15 to cast, so you're talking over 1000 GP there, probably 3 years worth of income. But what would you do to let Tiny Tim walk? Or to restore your son's dismembered leg?
Another big one is paying ransoms for those captured in warfare. 3 years income isn't terribly atypical there either, so your son might cost you 100 gp if he's rated as an unskilled noncombatant or 1000 gp if he's a chip off the old block.
And we haven't even considered those who just want to elevate their social station or enjoy lives of dissipation with ale and whores.

So it's pretty clear that there are going to be a fair number of people that would be willing to accept difficult and dangerous work for very high pay. There are in the real world too, look at what offshore oil workers make sometime, mercenaries for outfits like Blackwater, or just civilian contractors in war zones.

So what sort of money would a typical such 'contractor' want to make? Assuming we're not talking any more than the usual sort of desperation, probably we'd be starting at 10 GP/day when on active duty. In addition, they'd probably want some sort of combat pay. This could take the form of a 'share of the booty', which would range from a high of around 1/3 of a share if we're talking a level 1 party to around 1/100 of a share if you're talking a very high level party. Or they could instead ask for a fixed payment per fight where they meaningfully participate, if they'd rather not take the luck of the draw. In addition, they're probably want assurance that healing and the like would be provided them free of charge subject to what the party has available and some sort of death or dismemberment benefit, should they not make it back intact.

[Foghammer]

This is intriguing. I can't help thinking, however, that the vast majority of NPCs have relatively low stats in most settings, because PCs are supposed to be heroic, superior if you will. So the PCs sound like the very mercenaries you are describing. I would almost think that the PCs should be the head of such a contracting agency, hiring employees based on your model here and acting as a guild of some sort. Barring that the party is all part of a government venture group, the generic PC group is going to be "for hire" often enough for this to work. If the party is working under direct government funding (not as contractors) then said govt. would hire the mercs FOR the party if it was deemed necessary.

On a side note, I think there is a lot of room for more detail in the economic side of the game gold and silver is pretty static, but it has never quite been so solid. Gold pieces from X country are worth less than silver pieces from Y nation because the purity is so low in the coins. In fact, country Z might only deal in coins made of steel or copper, which have far more practical application (setting dependent, I suppose) when melted down.

I would think that commoners deal more in copper and silver pieces than gold and silver. A commoner pulling out a gold coin might get funny looks. Were I a carpenter in a fantasy setting like Pathfinder, I would be more likely to carry 10 silver than a single gold piece. Paying for things would be easier and less suspicious.

[EWHM]

Commoners make like a silver a day. So for them, a silver piece is quite a bit of money. It'd be like a $50 or $100 dollar bill honestly in today's terms if we equate a commoner to a minimum wager who gets paid under the table and works long hours.
As to stats, a vanilla warrior might well have STR12, DX12 and everything else 10s and 11s. PC's have MUCH better stats, even if they're 10 or 15 point builds. But that's not useless. Loosely taking an example from some of my players---a mage and a priest hired a group of 6 warriors to assist them in dealing with orc bands that had been preying on the trade routes between two towns. Each soldier was a level 1 warrior and had been negotiated to receive 10 gp/day while on active duty plus 1/3 of a share. So basically, the 6 mercenaries got half the treasure and experience points. Two came near death but none actually died. The warriors were longspear and shortbow users (they'd have been longbow users if they could've afforded it) and did a respectable job of covering the casters. Their motivations for accepting the job (which when you think about it, has a similar risk level to participating in a war, in a very time compressed fashion) included needing money to pay off gambling debts, a regeneration spell to heal a barren wife (this sort of thing is a huge deal in the real world also, check IVF prices sometime).
Often PCs will get hired to do jobs and will subcontract part of the job to their mercenaries. It takes some getting used to for modern players to having a little 'warband' of your own, but it's very in keeping with the roots of the game.

[FireberdGNOME]

I had a longer post written, but worked called me away and I lost it...

Basically I was asking how Hirelings would affect party xp. Would they share xp? Would/could they level?

Would there be higher level 'assistants' for higher level parties? Could your assistants level with you? And if it is a purely mercenary arrangment, do hired casters pay before cast, or cast on demand and submit request of payment after the fact? (Wizard won't throw the Fireball till the payola is in his hand...)

Would this be a useful long term fix for under-strength parties?

Interesting and thank you for the food for thought :D

GNOME

[Ravingdork]

Trained mercenaries can be hired for as little as 3sp a day per RAW.

[Archmage_Atrus]

Ravingdork wrote:

Trained mercenaries can be hired for as little as 3sp a day per RAW.

Technically, yes. Although it does state that:

Hireling, Trained wrote:

The amount given is the typical daily wage for mercenary warriors(. . .). This value represents a minimum wage; many such hirelings require significantly higher pay.

So I'd say that the 3 sp/day is for a 1st level warrior hired to do menial guard duty or low risk engagements. Anything more difficult - IE, face actual danger - would likely require a higher salary.

FireberdGNOME wrote:

Basically I was asking how Hirelings would affect party xp. Would they share xp? Would/could they level?

The RAW in 3.5 stated that hirelings never got XP. The logic, I assume, is that the hireling is a part of the PC's "equipment", and you'd not grant XP to the +1 longsword, would you? Edit:I can't find the corresponding rule in Pathfinder, but I haven't looked particularly hard, since I like the +1 longsword reasoning.

FBG wrote:

Would there be higher level 'assistants' for higher level parties? Could your assistants level with you?

Theoretically, yes - it's up to the GM to determine this, and of course, to set the price.

Personally, I wouldn't allow a "hireling" to become a permanent fixture to the (adventuring) party (as a fixed NPC - sure). Mostly, parties tend to do a lot of very dangerous work. They're in it for a lot more than just another days' paycheck. Mercenaries, on the other hand, are in it to feed themselves - presumably, to stay alive. So they're not going to be risking their necks out on a regular basis for a pittance.

In other words - if you want a hireling to stay with the party for any kind of duration, you should probably start giving them a full cut of the treasure. At which point, I would say they stop being Hirelings and become full party members.

FBG wrote:

And if it is a purely mercenary arrangment, do hired casters pay before cast, or cast on demand and submit request of payment after the fact? (Wizard won't throw the Fireball till the payola is in his hand...)

I would say that depend on the NPC, and how he's been treated by the party. (For example, a friendly NPC might cast first and take it on credit that they'll pay him after. An unfriendly NPC who's owed money, on the other hand, might very well decide to hold back except in self defense, until the gold hits the palm.)

FBG wrote:

Would this be a useful long term fix for under-strength parties?

For all the reasons I said above, I'd say no. Much, much better to use the Leadership feat for these purposes.

[EWHM]

FireberdGNOME wrote:

I had a longer post written, but worked called me away and I lost it...

Basically I was asking how Hirelings would affect party xp. Would they share xp? Would/could they level?

Would there be higher level 'assistants' for higher level parties? Could your assistants level with you? And if it is a purely mercenary arrangment, do hired casters pay before cast, or cast on demand and submit request of payment after the fact? (Wizard won't throw the Fireball till the payola is in his hand...)

Would this be a useful long term fix for under-strength parties?

Interesting and thank you for the food for thought :D

GNOME

Essentially you batch them up into PC equivalents using the CR system. For instance, 3 L1 warriors = 1 level 1 PC. So the example I gave with 6 mercenaries supporting a L1 Priest and L2 wizard, the 6 mercenaries collectively get half of the experience. Since they're closely directed, I'd award them half xp. So if that group earned, say, 6000 XP total, each PC would get 1500 XP. The 6 mercs would collectively get 3000 XP, shared 6 ways, then halved, for 250 XP each. So yes, they would advance, but slowly. This is a long term fix for understrength parties (particularly very small ones).

As to casters---remember that the cost to hire them is based on their other normal economic alternatives. Casters are going to be bloody expensive indeed because they can sell their services at level*spell level * 10 gp in a lot of cases--for them you're in henchman/friend/cohort territory most of the time because it'd be hard to afford the risk premium on their services. But soldiers, even good/elite ones, are often economically in your price range as a low level party.

[EWHM]

Ravingdork wrote:

Trained mercenaries can be hired for as little as 3sp a day per RAW.

Yes, but those aren't the kind of mercs that would fight for you normally. Your average adventure carries a similar level of risk as an entire military campaign/war, which is why the risk premium is so high.

[Mr.Fishy]

Pay Mr. Fishy's Mercenary 3 sp a day and they'll watch a monster eat you.

3sp/day is to show up. If Mr. Fishy sees blood that cost extra. Mr. Fishy has to draw a weapon, extra. Get attacked, Extra! Take damage...EXTRA, EXTRA! And Mr. Fishy wants XP.

[Ravingdork]

Did I not say "as little as." My initial post hasn't so far contradicted any of your "clarifications."

[Foghammer]

Level one party, level 1 warrior merc, I would say 5sp a day, 3.5gp a week, and that's only doing night watch, fighting humanoids and goblinoids (nothing too weird or fearsome, like a cockatrice or an orc with a non-NPC class level), and maybe doing menial tasks for the party (such as setting up camp for people other than himself).

If the party wants him to fight an undead, outsider, or some other such creature that isn't standard fare, the price will go up, considerably, depending on the nature of the merc. If he's just a guard from town wanting to put a few extra loaves of bread on the table this week for his 5 kids, he's probably going to want double or triple his agreed payment for that day, and added compensation for his family if he's injured or mortally wounded. If he's a page training to be a paladin and wants to see undead up-close (ah, youthful vigor), he will probably agree to go for minimal payment and charge no extra for the combat.

[StabbittyDoom]

Ravingdork wrote:

Did I not say "as little as." My initial post hasn't so far contradicted any of your "clarifications."

There is a big difference between lack of contradiction and lack of subtle implication.

A big example is how a certain news agency always complains about democrats in congress voting against something obviously good, but only complains that it was "congress" when it was republicans doing so. This means that people only hear "democrat bad" when it comes to parties, but still allows them to report on all such issues to claim a faux fairness of reporting.

In your case avoiding elaborating on the "as little as" implies that it's uncommon to go higher, which is actually the opposite of the case. It would be extremely common to go higher for even moderately dangerous tasks.

"Technically Correct" and "Misleading" can be and often are the same thing, with people who deliberately target the second commonly shielding themselves with the first. Of course, the most common form of misleading is sheer ignorance.

EDIT: I should clarify that many of these such misleadings are relatively inane, but this should not make aggression towards those that attempt to clarify where they deem important an acceptable thing.

[BltzKrg242]

Sorry to dig this from the grave but there have been surprisingly few posts about Hirelings/mercenaries.

Playing in a Kingmaker campaign and was looking to provide land for my hirelings in lieu of gold. Setting them up with farm steads or in-town businesses as the desire strikes each. e.g. Homestead/house and starting equipment.
Any thoughts on what conversion of land to pay would be? Land being nearly impossible to get with out a charter.

[BlueAria]

We hire dudes to carry our stuff and guard us as we sleep all the time but outside of low level play we keep them out of combat becasue that is the heroic thing to do :)

[BltzKrg242]

We prolly won't be taking them into combat but will have one or two along for night guard and watch the horses as needed. Also we need to be able to deliver messages reliably back to Brevoy or Oleg's trading post.
As we build our kingdom, I hope that these fellows will become trusted associates and be rewarded with more and more responsibility.

the question stands tho:
Any thoughts on what conversion of land to pay would be? Land being nearly impossible to get with out a charter.

[EWHM]

Land varies a LOT in price. Here's my suggestion:

Land should be priced at around 20x its yearly economic value (net, not gross). Thus if you can make 100 gp from a piece of land, it ought to cost/be worth around 2000 gp. This assumes a roughly 5% rate of return, which isn't historically abnormal for very conservative investments.