"Sir, <lead adventurer>, we have our orders from the Lord Mayor, that we are here to protect this Trading Post." says Kesten. Although my guys never asked, since the above sentiment was made fairly plain when Kesten showed up.
Regarding Jhod, they never asked. They found the temple, and with a Paladin of Erastil leading the group, they just really wanted to clear the place and turn it over to Jhod.
The only time they asked for help was after they almost got their collective keisters handed to them when the bandits that escaped the original camp came in the middle of the night, and then I created an NPC cleric that joined them after one of the group left and they needed the healing, so I brought in a female cleric of Erastil who is an archer. The interaction between her and the Paladin is priceless.....
-- david
Papa.DRB
I just said they didn't want to go exploring they were more interested in staying at Oleg's and guarding it against possible further bandit attacks.
One of my players plans on making Jhod his cohort. And he is the kingdoms high priest.
Kesten was made the kingdoms general
Greetings, fellow travellers.
I handled Kesten and his underlings the same way Papa-DRB did, since my players did ask. I also made them soldiers with handyman background, so they were busy improving the trading post (esp. the catapults) and had no time to spare for frivolous adventure.
Jhod is a major NPC in my campaign. I made him a 10th level druid but devoid of his powers due to his background. Since I have a paladin of Iomedae and a cleric of Torag, both very jealous when it comes to other religions, accompanying them was a non-issue.
Jhod is also quite antagonistic and is opposing the players ideas of "taming the wilds".
After they cleared the temple, he has taken residence there, got his powers back and levels with the PCs...
Ruyan.
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As already stated, Kesten is mercenary with precise orders. He could bend them (seeing his alignment) but I doubt he will disregard them unless the situation is dire.
Jhod is a travelling cleric earning living through his work.
He is middle aged, his stats are good but not ideal for a adventuring character (you find them in the second module), he has little equipment (my version has less than the normal WBL for a NPC of that level, so leater armor, sling and club) and he as no reason for having combat domains, so he get community an plants.
To reflect his background the feats I made him learn are:
endurance, cosmopolitan and merciful spell (he has learned his lesson about wrongly killing someone).
All said and done, a useful character, but hardly an adventurer.
He would go with the PC to clear the temple if asked, but he will not be a dominating presence. Even more important, he should stay there if possible, to make it again a holy location (unless he is asked to become the high cleric or the new kingdom).
Have the PCs make Diplomacy rolls to convince the NPCs to do something outside their comfort zone. Reward the PCs for not being pure combat monsters. :). But make them work for their successes. Maybe Kesten Garess will go with the PCs but only if they can confirm that his enemyFalgrim Sneeg is withthebandits. Get the PCs to do some scouting instead of just walking in.
Also note that extra people is more ways to split the XP. Some PCs mightn't like this.
But getting the PCs involved with theNPCs is a Good Idea, in my book.
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I definitely agree that Jhod will stick to the temple once it is cleared, but I can't imagine my players not asking him to come along if/when they find the temple.
Mine found the temple and immediately cleared it.
They count on escorting Jhod there now, after the bear death, to reclaim it for Erastil.
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Kesten Garress and his entourage came to Oleg's planning to help out. The PC's already had. So they were going to patrol for a while but the PC's in my group were afraid of reprisals. Additionally, the PC's had given Happs (aka Hapless) and his entourage the opportunity to repent (seeing as "unrepentant banditry" was specifically indicated as what they were supposed to punish by rope or sword).
Their attack on Oleg's did considerable damage as a fire was inadvertently started in the process so there was a lot of work to be done. The PC's gave the bandits the option to work repairing Oleg's as penance... and Kesten's men had the duty of guarding them.[/spoiler]
Kesten and the others were unavailable to 'rescue' the PC's but they were specifically brought along to deal with the Stag Lord's fort.
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Look Alexander conversion for 6 players. It is stickied in this section of the forum.
It is useful and he has done a great job.
With a 6 man party this kind of adaptation is needed or your group will fall behind in levels. At first the number of players will balance out the lower individual power, but when the enemies become stronger they become glass cannons. Some area attack could wipe out the party it their average level is too low.
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I ruled that Jhod didn't have any cleric powers until the bear was defeated.
In my game players can bring along 1 NPC (I've been levelling them a level behind the players). During the game the players gain an NPC action card each. They may spend the card to have the NPC perform an action with an automatic success (otherwise the NPC mostly fades into the background and breaks ties when PCs are voting on a course of action).
For example: 4th level party brings Jhod along on a quest. Jhod is a 3rd level cleric. So a player can spend a card to have Jhod channel energy for 2d6 healing. Cast any 2nd level Cleric spell, or pass a Knowledge (Religion) check.
I'd be also interested to get to know how you managed to get K involved with the PCs, roccojr.
I had K as a recurring villain, first beating the goodness out of the PCs face, but being the sole survivor fleeing back to the stag lord. Then K got the order to set up another camp somewhere, bodged that and returned beaten to the fort.
The PCs met K again when storming the fort and defeating the stag lord. K was a prisoner and severly abused and tortured by the bandits. K's protector was Akiros (they are lovers and to set him back on the right track), who vouched for K. After Akiros was redeemed at the temple of Erastil by Jhod, he accompanied the PCs to Restov to stand up for K in the upcoming trial (PCs decided to sit trial over K in Restov), where K will most probably be hanged (especially the LG paladin and cleric of Torag did not take it like gentlemen having been beaten twice by K... and I cannot play the GM fiat rule for K like I did for Akiros, I guess.
Right now I am thinking about how Akiros will react to the death of his lover.
Ruyan.
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I'd be also interested to get to know how you managed to get K involved with the PCs, roccojr.
** spoiler omitted **
Ruyan.
My pc's caught Kressle before she could do much to cause trouble. Seeing as they gave Happs the chance to reprent, he told them where his main group was camped along the river so they bee-lined for her righht away.
There was a battle at the bandit camp. She got caught in a Sleep spell and went down. When she woke, the pc's gave her the chance to repent. Honestly, I just figured she'd agree to anything not to get killed so she said she repented. She figured she'd just escape if they left her at Oleg's... But they found her amulet (or whatever the 'get into the stag lord's fort' item was... Was a year ago, i forget). Seeing as she knew the most about the Stag Lord out of the bandits they'd given penance, they said she would work off her penance helping them.
She planned to do anything, including commit murder, to escape... But my pc's started talking to her. I had to come up with some personality for her. I figured she didn't have much of an upbringing, her parents were scum, banditry was just all she knew. I figured they'd realize she was scum, too but the pc's took that as pitiable.
Sure enough, during the first big fight, one of the pc's nearly kills himself to save her. Then they start using magic to heal her and protect her... So, each night, she keeps thinking, "I owe them another day, I'll escape tomorrow," until, so many selfless acts later, she performed her first selfless act to save one of them. Slowly but surely, they redeemed her. It actually seemed a very organic process and she's been a fairly complex and enjoyable npc to play ever since.
She still bears a brand that the pc's gave her for banditry as a reminder of the bad days. But now she tries to make up for her past misdeeds serving in the pc's kingdom. Her alignment over the 3 years of game time (slightly more than a year of real time) slowly slid to Good, as well. For a brief while, it even looked like the Baron might even be interested in her as his wife... She nipped that in the bud saying that the ruler of a nation shouldn't have a branded ex-bandit as his wife. Secretly, she's heartbroken, though... So she's come a loooong way in my campaign.