Just something that's been on my mind while browsing through some AP's I doubt I'll ever get to run and several of them have "You find injured and gearless X if healed and restored they will gladly help with the coming fights". However the NPC is unarmed and has no gear so I'm wondering in this situation do players give spare weapons/armour/magical items to them for their use/owenership, do they do this but expect them back or do they just send them on their naked way?
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I'm playing in an Ironfang Invasion campaign and my party distributes equipment to NPCs (refugees, former slaves, rescued prisoners, etc) all the time. We handed over armloads of swords, bows, and armor to the militia of Longshadow as we prepared to defend that town from a siege.
Handing over an extra weapon and armor to someone who will help you out is worth the 'lost loot' in my opinion.
For Skull and Shackles we've been handing over surplus weaponry and armor to the ship's armory, including some spare potions and masterwork gear. Haven't had enough magic items go by to do much more though.
Yeah. It's not uncommon to come across loads of serviceable weapons that are barely worth transporting to a merchant; so arming allies is beneficial and more convenient than not doing so.
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In the Reign of Winter AP there's a brief period where you're traveling village to village through the Irrisen countryside before arriving at the capitol. My PC had Profession: Tanner and my GM was allowing me to craft leather items from hunting and trapping along the trail. Between that and sentient evil humanoids we'd slain, my character was able to give away three slings with 30 sling bullets, 3 shortspears and a shortbow with 10 arrows, and 2 masterwork backpacks along with a wolf pelt blanket.
My fellow players thought I was crazy. This wasn't exactly the "arm this NPC and they'll gladly fight with you" situation but my character was a firm believer in folks defending themselves, hunting and being warm.
Honestly, I don't think murderhobos in my games really stop to think about situations like this. Take a level 1 adventure in one of my campaigns: room 1 - x2 mites with a giant centipede. Room 2 - a trap as part of a vertical drop shaft. Room 2 - x4 mites, x2 giant centipedes. Room 4 - mite hunter 4 with giant centipede AC, x4 mites.
In this particular dungeon, each of these mites had leather armor and wielded light crossbows instead of darts. Making it through the entire dungeon and collecting up everything means the NPC's gear plus other treasure along with x10 Small sized light crossbows, sets of leather armor, daggers and x3 exotic saddles.
Find yourself some Small sized NPCs and befriend them in the next town. Now those NPCs have multiple weapons, serviceable armor and a reason to travel with the party. Pay them a daily wage (some professionals in the Core book can be retained for 1GP/day) and now you've got a little private army guarding your camp or even coming with you into dungeons.
Generally, my players are willing to donate looted equipment, especially if it is something bulky and with a low value.
For someone 2nd level 10 spears or swords would fall in that category, but local militia units will like them.
After a few levels, chain shirts and breastplates can fall in that category. Sometimes even masterwork weapons and armors will be donated.
For someone willing and capable to help and that could become a useful contact? Even low-value magical equipment isn't out of the equation.
Currently, the 5th level characters in my campaign are trying to revive an abandoned village. I don't want them to take leadership, so they are going to recruit people to settle the village while paying some of them to be part of a military unit with the job of defending it. Giving them equipment is part of the recruiting bonus.
For the most part, yes. If someone is in need and the PCs have a little extra, loaning or even giving away some gear is fairly common. Some of my friends are more generous than others, of course.
Those who have followers of their own are expected to give money and gear freely to these.
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Y'know, topics like this always remind me of a wizard I played years ago. She always had Mending in her Cantrips for the day and her valet familiar owl could cast Prestidigitation at will. Some Light and One-Handed weapons as well as some pieces of armor or gear were kept, mended, cleaned and generally refurbished from our adventures.
We only made it to level 3 and then quit, but the goal was to use Make Whole and Mending, along with Craft skills, to continue this practice. At first it was to make a little extra money after adventures, but then three of the Romani traveler kinfolk that had raised this PC settled in town to be closer to their "sister" so she was donating gear for them to sell and barter with.
The best was a half-orc adept we defeated that had a masterwork leather satchel (same stats as masterwork backpack) and the GM had described the NPC as also wearing several pieces of nicked and dinged costume jewelry as well. I removed all the glass bits and baubles, took the satchel, cleaned and repaired all of it, then gave it to my kinfolk. They in turn "bedazzled" the satchel and ended up selling it for nearly 100 GP; not much to even a level 3 wizard, but for them this one sale meant they were set for a year's worth of monthly expenses.
Senko wrote: ... while browsing through some AP's ... "You find injured and gearless X if healed and restored they will gladly help with the coming fights". However the NPC is unarmed and has no gear so I'm wondering in this situation do players give spare weapons/armour/magical items to them for their use/owenership, do they do this but expect them back or do they just send them on their naked way? LoL...
unless there's emotional connection or some in game rationale people do not give away anything they think is useful or might be useful.
1) PC's don't generally carry spare items.
2) it is worse in Org Play where everything is paid for. There people actively manage and scrutinize purchases. Sometimes you wonder about 5th level characters with point blank & precise shot that had the same quiver with 10 arrows since first level...
3) realistically, the NPCs don't affect the party CR or APL. They are usually worse than summons. What they DO provide are hints and possibly a lower CR challenge.
4) Metagaming. I've seen this in Org Play where players try to assess whether the NPC is a trap, guidance, or a hint. I've heard, "Oh, they're a plot feature that we will have to save later or kill later", "Never trust an innocent child found in an adventure, especially a baby with a two-hander."
At best good aligned characters will heal them up a bit, sometimes begrudgingly with a wand.
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ok - let's stand this on it's head a bit...
Picture a starting band of PCs - all 1st level, organizing to go on their first adventure, and "an adventuring band (of halflings) pass through town"...
"Yeah kid, we picked this stuff off some orc bandits that jumped us. You can have your pick of it, to heavy for us to be dragging around and way to big - it'd fit you though I'm guessing. If you've got access to the spell Prestidigitation you might need it to get this stuff in shape to use, what with the blood stains and orc sweat..."
And after the "real adventurers" head out on their "quest to save the world" the PCs discover a map in the lining on a wooden shield that once belonged to the bandit leader...
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As to passing out equipment to NPCs - yeah, been doing that sense we armed the Orcs in "G1 - Steading of the Hill Giant Chief" and started a slave revolt. One of them orcs dropped a hill giant with a spear we gave him... That was back in... gods... the 1980's? so yeah, been arming the NPCs for 40ish years now...
"Yuri Orlov: There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. That's one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: How do we arm the other 11?"
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Life reflects games...
"Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov announced on Friday that his government had handed out 18,000 submachine guns and ammunition to civilians and militia fighters..."
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