Quick Question Y'all
Is a Cohort's level capped at lv17 (when looking at the Cohort/Follower Table)
or
Is a Cohort maxed out at 2 levels below the pc character. So if the PC is lv 20 then the Cohort could be LV 18/
Thoughts?
Cohort Level: You can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of your Leadership score, you can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than yourself
As written both limits apply. So, the cohort can never be more than level 17. I wouldn’t be surprised at a GM ignoring this rule though. It’s just so rare to reach a level where that matters, that you won’t find much discussion on it. But in my experience, a GM either wants you to have help from an extra PC and is fine with whatever, or the GM is against the feat from the start and you can’t even take it in the first place.
There is a bit of a question around abilities that change the limit and how far those changes go. For instance, the Noble Scion changes the limit but doesn’t specify if that change also affects the limits from the table. It could be interpreted either way.
My understanding is the Text always trumps a Table.
Therefore, my groups have always ruled that 18th level is the max level for a cohort.
In this case, the table is not in conflict with the text. The line I quoted was the text explaining the use of the table. And the table is very clear that a score of 25+ caps at cohort level 17.
Now with the Noble Scion it’s unclear if leadership score even matters anymore. It could be interpreted that you get the set cohort level no matter what your leadership score is.
Low Templar PrC also seems to assume max is PCL-2
If the low templar has the Leadership feat, he gains a +1 bonus to his Leadership score. If he replaces his cohort gained from the leadership feat with the planar cohort, the maximum level equivalent for his planar cohort equals the templar’s class level –1, rather than –2.My reading is that the Table gives you the max level when you gain/recruit the cohort, but the cohort can advance in level such that it is no less than PC level - 2, with exceptions going higher in certain PrCs as noted above.
That’s an interesting interpretation. I’m not sure if that’s what they had in mind, but I don’t see a contradiction.
Cohort Level: You can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of your Leadership score, you can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than yourself.
The bolded parts clearly state the level limit is for a starting cohort.
A cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party's XP. Instead, divide the cohort's level by your level. Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to you, then add that number of experience points to the cohort's total.
If a cohort gains enough XP to bring it to a level one lower than your level, the cohort does not gain the new level—its new XP total is 1 less than the amount needed to attain the next level.
The book also specifies that a cohort can gain XP and levels. The only limit to the levels gain is that it cannot be more than 2 levels below your character level. Cohorts gain XP slow than a PC so it will take a while for the cohort to approach your level. If you recruit the cohort early it actually takes them longer to gain levels.
At low level the rate of advancement is pretty slow. By about 13 level it approaches about 85% efficiency. Level 17 is actually the optimal for gaining levels. Above that the level limit kicks in too soon.
That’s interesting, because it means leadership score would only matter for that initial recruitment. After that, you can pretty easily level the cohort up to your level-2. This makes the feat a lot better for those who dump charisma.
Not really the way the method they use to gain XP means the bigger the gap the less XP they gain. If you gain a 5th level cohort at 7th level, they get 71% of the experience you gain. If you gain a 5th level cohort at 12th level, they gain 56% of the XP you do. If you gain a 13th level cohort at 15th level, they gain 87% of the XP you get. In fact, if you gain a 5th level cohort at 7th level it will take a long time for them to come close to your level and would never reach your PCL -2. At 20th level the cohort would be 16th level. To get a cohort of 18th level by 20th level you need to recruit a 11th level cohort at 13th level and have a leadership score of at least 16. This is assuming you keep the same cohort. Recruiting a new cohort could lower your score if the cohort died. I am not sure if you would take a penalty for dismissing the cohort or even if you can dismiss and recruit a new cohort.