I want to get a general sense of people's use of this aspect of the game. Do you hire people to take care of your horses while you're in dungeons? To fill a missing role? What role does your cohort play?
I want to get a general sense of people's use of this aspect of the game. Do you hire people to take care of your horses while you're in dungeons? To fill a missing role? What role does your cohort play?
My players only have one cohort so far (i.e. one character with the Leadership feat) and she is a designated Heal Bot, an Oracle of the Life Mystery (ie she receives every healing spell as a bonus spell as she levels), as the party Cleric can't be bothered to heal in between Great Axe swings :-P.
To date, that player hasn't attracted any followers yet, but when he does, I imagine that he'll use them for official stuff; he's currently the mayor of a small town, and using those cohorts to run the town in his absence is a great idea. Ultimately, Leadership works best when your character is actually in charge of something and can use his henchmen on an off-screen role like that.
Following the rule of thumb that Cohorts, Hirelings & Followers are all npcs, I let the pcs recruit from those they've met already in game. If it's a hireling, they have to already be taking steps to be looking (though sometimes I'll have an npc offer their services), whereas Cohort/followers are almost always npcs they've helped in the past who decide they need to repay them in service, rather than the usual reward system. This saves me the trouble of pcs trying to have multiple characters (ie. I never let them make their own minions), and insures that their minions have a reasonable excuse to be in the story (& loyal to the party).
In my current Carrion Crown campaign I have a Dhampyr Noble pc (from the Freeport companion, they get Leadership at level 1), who has recently picked up Professor Lorimor's daughter Kendra (a Diviner) as her Cohort, along with a collection of former town deputies for bodyguards & a few of the freaks from the Crooked Kin traveling show for servants (including Hap the Hunchback - just so I can have him loping after her lisping "yess Misstress..."). None of the npcs are high enough level to steal party thunder, and most stay out of combat, but they still serve as a useful scheme for character development.
I want to get a general sense of people's use of this aspect of the game. Do you hire people to take care of your horses while you're in dungeons? To fill a missing role? What role does your cohort play?
We usualy don't hire people in our games...
Though I do have leadership with serval of my characters...their roles vary from what the group needs and what my character wants...
For instance they have been the groups main healers or main tank if the group needs those things...other time my cohort runs things when my character is on adventure like a exclusive club or a inn that my character owns.
The only time I ever took leadership was with my halfling monk in a SCAP game a while back. My character's followers ran his homeless shelter and soup kitchen in Cauldron- among them was both a priest of Oli-D and the gnome who ran the local magic shop (also his romantic intrest). Turns out feeding and sheltering the homeless is a great way to learn just about anything rumor flying about town, because if I learned one thing from Elder Scrolls IV, it is that the homeless know everything about everyone.
I've only ever had 1 player take leadership in any of my campaigns. His followers were basically a handful of shipwrights and privateer sailors who built boats and hunted pirates for commission during his absences for adventuring.
Our group JUST got it's first leadership cohort. It was generally picked to fill a role in our party. 2 sorcerers, a monk, and a druid... We got us a cleric. Now the druid can prepare a few spells BESIDES the healing...
The player with leadership made the character up, and has all of his spells handy, while the DM has control over the personality and decision making bits...
I could see the arguments AGAINST having the player have too much control over a second character, but the DM has ENOUGH characters to figure out back there... and too much knowledge about what's coming up around the corner to bother with 'what spells should this extra PC have today...'
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My group just finished a game where about a half the players had the Leadership feat in order to get followers. It wasn't so bad as it sounds. We were playing a more military style game and less dungeon crawly. One of the players had a boat crewed by his followers. Another player had a battalion of bards he used to recruit soldiers. Another one had a couple higher level followers that he used for non-urgent skills.
It worked out really well since the minions were never directly involved in fighting. Really, the only difference between them and NPC soldiers was the fact that they were more loyal and we could have them be more specialized.
Worked out pretty good, really.
I let my players attempt to gather followers without the Leadership feat. It doesn't exist in my game. There is the expectation that the followers will require pay, equipment and training, so it costs time and wealth from the PCs. They also need to roleplay appropriately to attract and keep followers. A bunch of helpful mooks don't just sign on for no reason. They need incentive.
The only character I've ever had with the Leadership feat was my half-orc Barbarian/Oracle/Rage Prophet. I had a Bard as a cohort, and my followers were level 1 Orc Barbarians, with a few Rangers. I was essentially the leader of the tribe, with the Bard serving as a battle captain of sorts, leading the charge and boosting morale.
It was interesting from a roleplay point of view, because I was a legitimate power among other tribes and kingdoms, but it wasn't super overpowered, because there's only so much a couple dozen level 1 Barbarians can do.
My character is an officer in his home country's standing army, so my followers are a squad of soldiers. I more or less gave my GM carte blanche to come up with whatever he wanted to give me (my exact words were, "make something you'll have fun NPCing"), and ended up with a squad of combat engineers led by a Wizard.
I divert a portion of my loot to supply them with siege engines and bags of holding to carry them in (and, as soon as I can afford them, golem loading crews). They come in handy in support roles, as I'm loathe to put them in direct danger.
As a party, we've recruited several NPCs to live in our ever growing town; the best of which was supposed to be a one-shot antagonist, whom we are all now quite fond of.
I want to get a general sense of people's use of this aspect of the game. Do you hire people to take care of your horses while you're in dungeons? To fill a missing role? What role does your cohort play?
I just give the cohort. The followers are flavor only, and have no mechanical impact on the game.
My group has never hired a hireling. We tend to be self sufficient.
When I take Leadership, I try to come up with a theme.
For example Gaius, my battlesorcerer/Captain in 3.x had a boat. He had Leadership centred around the boat. Warlock Cohort was first mate, various followers were his crew, contacts/traders in ports, etc.
Same thing for me.
I have 2 characters with the Leadership feat. One is a rogue who only had a cohort until recently. Now that he has the money to create his guild, he has recruited some followers who run it when he is not around.
The other character is a fighter/rogue, a mercenary. Now with the feat, he is the captain of a mercenary company ; to ease things, I use the iconics as followers.
My only character who has taken Leadership was a free hand fighter who went Chevalier. He was a reknowned monster slayer, and guildmaster of an adventuring guild he founded (which was helped along by family and followers). His cohort was a wyvern he defeated in battle but spared, who then decided to join up and follow the big bad fighter around because there would be lots of tasty snacks. He wound up with a bad ass mount :P
I want to get a general sense of people's use of this aspect of the game. Do you hire people to take care of your horses while you're in dungeons? To fill a missing role? What role does your cohort play?
A non-spellcaster (especially the typical fighter) can gain a lot of benefit from the Leadership feat. A spellcaster cohort with Craft Magic Arms and Armor and several expert (or even commoner) followers with Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Armor), Craft (Bows), and Craft (Weapons) can keep the non-spellcaster stocked up on alchemical substances (weapon blanch, etc.) and ammunition, while also upgrading existing armor and weapons without needing to hunt for specific items or someone willing to enhance an item on commission. The cohort, if not in the middle of something else, can also go on adventures to buff (and possibly heal) the non-spellcaster, which lets the PC spellcasters concentrate on other things (which helps make them more effective, as well).
A spellcaster (especially the typical sorcerer, witch, or wizard) can also gain a lot of benefit. A cohort can act as an assistant in magic item creation, a bodyguard, and/or make it easier to throw out spell combos. Followers with Craft skills can produce alchemical substances, masterwork armor/weapons, and other items as the basis for magic items.
Honestly, it really depends on the campaign. Each campaign is different and sometimes we use Leadership, sometimes we don't, and, in call cases, we work hard at making it fit the campaign itself.
a) have magical ability
b) seek self perfection
c) are religious
d) are associated with fey
... pretty much in that order, to, though he doesn't require anyone to have any one of those in particular. Effectively, I get to make my own stuff, and poof, they are brought from out of the kingdom, trained (more or less) by me (with substantial assistance for those classes I can't cover) and then work as private agents of the Duke (me) while otherwise living their normal lives. They aren't a military, they just follow (and believe in) my character. On the other hand, another player in that same campaign uses their leadership feat to take on nothing but good-aligned divine followers who worship Sarenrae (mostly making the converts on their own, then recruiting them as followers).
To make a long post short (too late!): pretty much leadership is a great tool to RP effectively in any capacity that fits within your game.
*This was in 3.X when this was possible.
EDIT: also, Dragonchess Player points out some great things. I also like the idea of freeing up the roll of the "healbot" so that other people don't have to.