Leadership and Party Level

[HNNNNNNG]

Does the cohort gained from leadership affect the party's total level?

Example:

You have four level 8 party members. So party level is 8.
One of them took leadership and has a level 6 cohort. Is the party level now 7~? (8+8+8+8+6 is 38, which divided by 5 is 7.6)

Or does the cohort gained from leadership not factor into the overall party level. (Meaning the party of 4 level 8 characters with a level 6 cohort will still be a party level of 8)

[Brogue The Rogue]

Nope, the cohort doesn't affect the party's effective level. The leadership feat is a significant step up in power over many other feats. Power-wise, all builds have it, heh.

Spoiler:

Step 1—Determine APL: Determine the average level of your player characters—this is their Average Party Level (APL for short). You should round this value to the nearest whole number (this is one of the few exceptions to the round down rule). Note that these encounter creation guidelines assume a group of four or five PCs. If your group contains six or more players, add one to their average level. If your group contains three or fewer players, subtract one from their average level. For example, if your group consists of six players, two of which are 4th level and four of which are 5th level, their APL is 6th (28 total levels, divided by six players, rounding up, and adding one to the final result).

[Blueluck]

Cohorts don't technically effect APL. However, since APL is most often used as an approximation of power level, it's worth noting anything that makes a party more or less powerful. By the same token, CR is an approximation of power level, and unwritten elements can certainly change the power level of enemies (terrain, synergy, abilities particularly relevant to the party, etc).

[HNNNNNNG]

Thank you for the responses!

[Brogue The Rogue]

No problem. Best of luck.