Hirelings, Personnel, & Sidekicks v0.4.3 #

The central idea of this system is that these characters (Followers, Hirelings, etc) are not meant to aide the PCs directly in battle, but rather they are meant to act as an extension of the PCs will, and accomplish tasks that the PCs are otherwise too occupied (ideally by your gripping story) to do themselves. Inciting Examples:

• A Rogue turning away from petty crime decided to create their own Spy Network filled with informants, analysts, and other various roles which allows them to a wide net of information going on in their city. This Rogue wishes to have their contacts pull information on a local Shopkeeper who they suspect has more going on than what meets the eye.
• A Cleric wishes to have a capable member of their order escort a political figure out of the city because they fear that unrest is upon them and a nefarious plot may soon come to fruition.

Restrictions: #

Socialites & Experts must have an int of 6 or higher

Notes: #

As long as they don’t steal the spotlight then the PCs likely won’t complain about the extra hands!

• Especially since they have a fair bit of control over them. Take care not to overwhelm the players with too much responsibility. Might pair well with rule sets/changes that target Mass Combat.
• Trek is considering/in the process of making a video on this
• Matthew Colville has done a write up on this
• Macks recommended me Ni No Kuni 2’s Kingdom Building in a similar vein

Engines of control: #

How is Control Gained in the first place?

• Payment (Appeal to Greed)
• Piety (Appeal to God)
• Honour (Appeal to Character)
• Promise (Appeal to Aspiration; Using Temptation)
• Admiration (Appeal to Love/Respect; Using Praise)
• Influence (Appeal to Authority; Using Connections)
• Fear (Appeal to Power)
• Grief How is Control Held? What are the dangers of Mismanagement?
• Desertion
• Tarnishing Reputation
• Theft of Valuables
• Divulging Secrets
• Attempted Assassination Some methods of control are more… volatile than others, were they to… backfire, how would that look?
• (Control can also backfire if orders are too intensive or demanding and the Follower’s Morale is low) The amount of control needed could possibly scale with the Strength of the Follower

Follower Strength Table #

Starting at 1st level you may create a trinket that bequeaths a fraction of your experience, knowledge, and power over the course of a long rest. This trinket may be styled or shaped however you like but functions as a purely mundane accessory. Your trinket may be given to one of your followers of your choice who then becomes a Sidekick, gaining a follower level equal to your total character level.

• You may only have one Sidekick at a time, and you may only create one trinket at a time. Creating a new trinket renders any existing trinkets inert, and you may end the effect of a trinket at will. The Follower Count Table details how many total followers a PC may have at a given level.

Follower Count Table #

Expand upon “Sidekick” Classes:

• Expert
• Spellcaster
• Warrior To do so it’s advised to treat these as beginner or newbie classes, so extract the essence of what it should feel like to play a Martial, Caster, etc and try to distill that into a low power streamlined experience.

Spellcaster & Warrior are both Combat based Sidekicks while Expert is Exploration based. So a restructure might look more like:

Combatant #

Warrior #

• Brute
• Guardian
• Tactician

Mage #

• Evoker
• Hexer
• Nullifier

Socialite #

Aristocrat #

• Courtier
• Knight
• Noble

Missionary #

• Acolyte
• Oracle
• Sage

Criminal #

• Fence
• Pickpocket
• Smuggler

Expert #

• Artisan - Various Tool Related Skills
• Gymnast - Strength & Dexterity Related Skills
• Scholar - Intelligence Related Skills
• Traveller - Wisdom Related Skills