Cohort question

[Karlathos Scorn]

So one of the players in my Group has been playing a Necromancer and recently took the Leadership Feat (To start a Cult and Whatnot) However he wishes to have a Vampire Cohort.

Are there Specific rules on having a Cohort with a Template? Or having a Creature such as a Succubus? I couldn't find any myself right off the bat.

[Stubs McKenzie]

Well in 3.5 a CR 1 pseudo dragon had an ECL of 4, + racial HD... I wouldn't allow a vampire cohort (has to have a minimum of 5 HD) until at least 12th character level, and would probably then only allow it as a "play test" sort of a deal... to be taken away and replaced with a pre-agreed upon 2nd cohort at any time if i felt it unbalancing.

[VRMH]

A Sorcerer with the Serpentine bloodline has fangs too.

But I'd suggest creating a "lesser vampire", and letting it "grow" into a full-fledged one in a few levels.

[Ascalaphus]

There's some unstable footing with cohorts that get followers of their own, like a vampire. Think carefully about whether you're comfortable with that, it's a bit like a pyramid scheme.

[Dragonamedrake]

Well the important issue is it an RP Cohort or a Combat Cohort?

What I mean is he...
.
.
.
A. Going to be doing all the behind the scenes running of the cult while he and the party go out adventuring?

Or

B. Is he going to be adventuring with the party taking part in the action?

If its A and he is only there for RP purposes then sure... let him have a Vampire cohort. Its a cool undead flunky to run the boring day to day stuff. If however its B. Then no. Make him pick a less powerful undead or make a weak template.

[Aioran]

And then the cohort bites the pc and makes the pc serve him as a spawn...! /Amusing Scenario

Vampires aren't that useful as PC allies unless everyone is nocturnal. Not to mention you have to carry his coffin around all day. That's kind of sus and kind of annoying logistically.

EDIT: I say 'kind of' because I have seen people post about having PC vampires and such where it was a funny/interesting RP experience.

[Karlathos Scorn]

Dragonamedrake wrote:

Well the important issue is it an RP Cohort or a Combat Cohort?

What I mean is he...
.
.
.
A. Going to be doing all the behind the scenes running of the cult while he and the party go out adventuring?

Or

B. Is he going to be adventuring with the party taking part in the action?

If its A and he is only there for RP purposes then sure... let him have a Vampire cohort. Its a cool undead flunky to run the boring day to day stuff. If however its B. Then no. Make him pick a less powerful undead or make a weak template.

Option A, However he also wants to use it as his personal assassin.

[VRMH]

Karlathos Scorn wrote:

he also wants to use it as his personal assassin.

Bad idea, methinks. A failed assassination will likely leave a dead cohort, without the player having been able to influence the scenario. Or worse: render the whole cult exposed. The party could ride back into town only to find the "followers" executed - after revealing the PC as their leader.

It could be an interesting adventure, but the player will likely be annoyed his feat is now worthless and any pre-existing adventure will now be off the rails.

[darkwarriorkarg]

@VRMH: You can always replace the cohort, but the rest of your point is correct

We also don't know the parameters of the campaign.

Analysis:

Template adds +2 to the CR

So at 7th level (character), a 3 HD vampire, having a maximum of 6HD in spawn.

How useful is a personal assassin that's 4 levels lower than the PC and that has a boatload of vulnerabilities?

Conclusion: Wait until higher levels to gain a vampire cohort. Get a normal cohort at first then either dismiss your cohort or use him/her as a component in create greater undead.

[Ascalaphus]

Vampires are pretty odd as (N)PCs. Sure, they've got some vulnerabilities, but they're also practically immune to many many many monster attacks.

Basically anyone without magic or specialized weapons is in deed trouble fighting a vampire, and truly killing a vampire is very hard for NPC monsters under time pressure. I mean, locating the coffin in time isn't likely to be easy if you have at least one player coming up with ways to hide it. Makes for a much more durable cohort than most.

Note that +X CR isn't the same as +X to cohort class level. Effective cohort level for monster cohorts is pretty steep, because they don't want to let cohorts with unusual abilities get out of hand too much. Of which vampires are a prime example. That template is worth a lot more than 2 character levels.