My low level party has invested considerable resources into acquiring war-trained heavy horses, a war-trained riding dog and a 1st level warrior hireling; which has substantially increased the group's lethality in combat. My question is how, if at all, should these NPCs be counted when awarding experience points in combat? Do they somehow reduce the PCs' share of XP or are they not counted?
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Non-Class Feature pets, IMG, count towards their treasure by level - by the time a war-trained heavy horse is no longer a sizable portion of their permitted wealth, it's no longer a sizable portion of their effectiveness.
As for hirelings, hell yes, they get XP if they're participating in the combat.
Non-Class Feature pets, IMG, count towards their treasure by level.
Hm. A war-trained heavy horse normally costs 300 gp. Considering its multiple attacks per round, mobility, strength and sustainability it'd seem to be far superior to any other piece of 300 gp "treasure" that I can think of. I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you; just saying that counting it merely as another piece of equipment seems a little weird considering how much better the horse is to, say, a masterwork lonsword.
As for hirelings, hell yes, they get XP if they're participating in the combat.
Now see, that also seems weird to me. Why would a purchased dog not receive a share of XP while a hired warrior would? Both are merely ways of boosting one's combat effectiveness through the expenditure of resources.
At very low level it does considerably increase their effectiveness, but a dog, horse, or other similar animal does not level up, or gain HD through combat, and therefore does not drain xp, whereas cohorts take a share, but also lvl with you.
That's a very good point. I hadn't considered it. But could hirelings, if they aren't allowed to level like PCs, simply be treated the same as mounts and pets? If not, that'd seem to make war dogs a better choice than hirelings; a one time expenditure that doesn't cost you your XP...
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Animals require skills to control. They need to be trained with tricks, and if its not your pet its a move action to command them as well as a handle animal check. Tricks can be time consuming to teach and still quite limit what the animal can do...
To use a mount you need to invest in ride. There are not many mounts that can climb, or traverse some difficult terrains.
A hireling may not go anywhere or do anything, but they will normally do a lot more than an animal.
Experience awards depend upon whether the NPC is a general NPC, hireling, cohort or follower. Cohorts and followers do not subtract from the Exp pool and can only be obtained through the leadership feat. Hirelings are pretty basic NPC's, I'm not sure on how they impact experience awards. I believe full character level NPC's get a full share of the experience, but I couldn't find this in the rules...
Animals require skills to control.
Only, I believe, if you're pushing them to do something they aren't already trained to do. Otherwise all that's required are the proper commands.
Tricks can be time consuming to teach
Only if a character wants to do it himself. Otherwise it only takes as much times as is necessary to visit a kennel and drop the needed coin.
and still quite limit what the animal can do...
War training includes, IIRC, six tricks which cover pretty much everything one might ever want a war dog to do.
A hireling may not go anywhere or do anything, but they will normally do a lot more than an animal.
Yeah, like whine about their hungry kids and ask for a share of the treasure. ;)
give them their XP and treasure, them kill in their sleep to get more XP and treasure
Top shelf thinking, though are you suggesting it as a course of action for the PCs or the hirelings? ;)
If an animal, even a well trained one, has less than 3 on the 'ol Intelligence stat, then I don't let it gain xp or treasure. Terribly racist of me I know, but there it is. Hirelings and Cohorts on the otherhand are entitled to at least their share of the treasure, and a fair split of xp...when I'm GM on the block anyway.
Also remember that having a trained warhorse does not make the animal capable of blithely traversing mountains, caves, lost temples, sunken ships, or charging into a forest fire. Don't get me wrong I am an avid fan of all things equine, but there are situations where a long sword is not going to leap out of the PC's hands or die of starvation.
Not to belittle the conversation, but it is important to remember food for hirelings, animals and the like when trudging accross trackless wildernesses or galloping down the intercontinental medieval highway. Handle Animal checks to care for the beasts, survival checks to forage for food (becuase seriously...carrying enough food for a horse is impossible without bags of holding, horns of plenty, decanters of endless water, bridles of sustenance, or a friendly cleric willing to create food and water at the drop of a hat).
For the PC's that are Leadership minded they also need to consider the fact that if a hireling is killed by their orders (you scout the swamp full of half dragon lizardmen Phillipe...we'll be right behind you...) that it may (depending on the GM) fall into the "cause the death of a follower" category. This will impact their future fame and gravitas in raising a personal army.