Hirelings... Hirelings... (hirelings questions)

[Ironballs]

The Cleric of the party I'm DMing has acquired a large temple, and he wants to hire guards, caretaker, workers etc...

I'm having some difficulties in calculating the monthly cost for such hirelings:

1. Blacksmith: level 1 expert NPC, with 5 total craft skill. on taking 10, his average income would be 7 gp per week (per craft skill RAW) - so I priced that on 30gp per month.

2. simple manual workers: cleaners, ushers, etc - the closest thing I could find in the rules are 'hirelings: untrained' which cost (minimum of) 1 sp\day - that means they earn ~3 gp per month - which according to RAW they are considered to be poor with poor lifestyle. (a minimum wage of 10gp is required for a person to be considered having an average cost lifestyle).

3. trained workers: Gardner, cook, etc - under the 'hireling: trained' - that's 3 sp\day - which translates into 9 gp per month - barely average income.

4. the toughest is to determine the cost of guards, basically the lowest level 1 NPC warrior is still considered 'hireling: trained' - which deserve 9 gp per month, but that seems too low, an warrior would demand at least enough pay to be considered having an average income, no?
and what about NPC warrior with more HD? how would that be calculated?

I'd appreciate your thought in the matter - and whether or not you agree with my assessment of thing.
Especially how to handle point #4.

thanks!

[mdt]

Those listings are minimum amounts, not carved in stone. :)

So, menials, like the sweepers and such, yeah, they're poor. That's ok, especially if they are living in the temple. That means that while they make a poor wage, they are not paying for rent, and thus actually probably live an average life style. So, most of the menials are making 3gp per month, but being housed by the temple, so pretty safe place to live, and no rent. They are probably also fed by the temple, which adds 1 sp per day, so 3 more gp per month. So 6gp per month, and the only thing the menials are paying for each month is clothes. If he's got 10 or more of them, I'd discount the food by 25%, it's cheaper to buy in bulk.

For the hirelings that are trained, my rule of thumb is to multiply the base pay by their skill or BAB. So a level 1 warrior with BAB 1 is getting base pay, or 9gp per month. This is for a cozy job where he lives on site and isn't really in much danger most of the time. If he wanted more money, he'd go work for a mercenary group and be in danger. Add in his meals per month (another 9gp) and he's sitting pretty. Again, if there are 10 or more trained people, I'd discount the food by 25%, since it's cheaper to buy in bulk.

If he's got a 5th level warrior on the payroll as a guard captain, then I'd set his pay at 3sp/day * 5 BAB = 1.5gp * 30 = 45gp/month. His food is another 9gp per month (or 7gp if he's got 10 or more trained people). A master blacksmith with 5 ranks of Craft would get the same amount. I generally don't add in stat bonuses when calculating pay, but you could, it won't break the system, just make 1st level people way more expensive and higher level people not get paid as much more in relation to their 1st level counterparts, which is why I use ranks instead of skill totals. I do include things like Skill Focus, or weapon Focus (to boost BAB) because that's feats that should get paid slightly more for taking.

All of this is just my rule of thumb though. Nothing RAW tells you how much to charge.

[Ironballs]

I like this notion!

I hadn't considered that it's the church duty to feed and supply a roof for the menial worker - but when I get down to think about it - that's sounds about right.

about the trained hirelings, I think it should be payed by total skill ranks and total attack bonus - from the simple reasoning that someone with a higher skill\attack score is considered better at his job.

a level 1 warrior with total of +1 to attack will be paid an X amount. but a level 1 warrior prodigy who has an amazingly good eye for marksmanship (i.e. high dex) with +4 to attack will be considered a more desired commodity :)

SO I'll use your suggestions for guards, but for skill based hirelings - I'll use the average pay they would have otherwise earn using the profession\craft skill description.

thanks !