Player Character Interactions

Players Characters and Hirelings

At any time, a character may attempt to hire various different sorts of workers, servants, or guards. The success of such hiring is entirely dependent upon availability of the type desired, wage and bonus offers, and to some extent the character’s Charisma. Typical hirelings are:

• Alchemist
• Armorer
• Bearer
• Blacksmith
• Crossbowman
• Engineer
• Linkboy
• Man-at-arms
• Steward
• Teamster
• Valet

Your character will have to locate the whereabouts of whatever type of hirelings he or she desires to take into service, and it will be up to your character to determine wages and salaries in the area he or she is in.

Employment can be by the hour, day, week, month, or year according to the desires of the character and agree-ability of the persons to be hired. Your referee will handle all such matters as they occur.

Note that the number of hirelings is in no way limited by Charisma, and hirelings differ considerably from henchmen who are discussed immediately hereafter. The loyalty of hirelings is quite similar to that of henchmen, though, and the discussion of the loyalty of henchmen can be applied to hirelings of all sorts. (See Player Characters and henchmen hereafter.)

Players Characters & Henchmen

As discussed in the preceding section regarding Character Abilities, Charisma has a great effect on the number of henchmen a character is able to attract.

A henchman is a more or less devoted follower of a character. In return for the use of his or her abilities and talents, the henchman receives support, lodging, and a share of his or her master’s or mistress‘ earnings—in the form of stipends or as a shore of treasure taken. Henchmen are always of a character race and character class, but are never player characters.

The alignment of a henchman should be compatible with that of the player character whom he or she serves. Difference in alignment will certainly affect the loyalty of all henchmen, if alignment is radically different.

It will usually be necessary for your character to visit various inns and drinking establishments in search of henchmen. It is also possible that a number of notices will have to be posted, perhaps in conjunction with the employment of a crier to announce the employment offered. The cost of such is often high - in rounds of drinks, food, tips, gratuities, bribes, fees and so forth. These costs are in addition to actual sums paid to the henchman eventually employed.

Locating non-human characters such as dwarves, elves, and the like might be even more protracted, difficult, and costly than the hiring of human and semi-human henchmen. This depends on campaign circumstances - such as whether or not non-humans are common in the area and whether or not non-humans tend to associate with humans and frequent the inns and taverns.

Once a henchman is brought into your character’s service, it will be necessary to pay a wage plus support and upkeep. Your referee will inform you as to such costs.

When a henchman accompanies your character on adventures, he or she must be given a portion of treasure, both money and magic, just as a player character would. However, the share can be lesser, for all of the henchman’s expenses are paid for by his or her master or mistress. Naturally, it is a good idea to give a henchman as much treasure as possible, for in that way the henchman gains experience points.

Experience awarded to henchmen is usually much less than that which would be given to a player character. This is because the henchmen are acting under the direction of their master or mistress. So you should expect that your character’s henchmen will get about 50% of the experience points which their share in the slaying of opponents and garnered treasure actually totals - possibly even less if your character bore the brunt of the action and closely directed the henchmen. The loyalty of henchmen is based on many factors. Charisma of the player character is very important.

Remuneration—support, upkeep, wages, bonuses, and sharing of treasure—plays a big part also. The involvement of henchmen in adventuring is important, as are the activities of the character (and what he requires of the henchmen) during the course of adventuring. For example:

• Assuming the character has above average Charisma, he or she could be somewhat less than generous in remuneration and still have henchmen with about average loyalty. If remuneration or activity were above the minimum required, loyalty would be correspondingly higher. If both remuneration and activity were exceptional, the loyalty base of henchmen would be likewise exceptional. Actions to protect the lives and welfare of henchmen, or saving the life of or resurrecting henchmen, give loyalty above average.

Disloyalty will come into play in combat and other stress situations. Disloyal henchmen will betray or desert their master or mistress.

Obedience

This aspect of play has three facets. The leader and caller of a party might order one course of action while various players state that their characters do otherwise. Your DM will treat such situations as confused and muddled, being certain to penalize the group accordingly.

Obedience also applies to hirelings and henchmen. Loyalty and morale are factors here, as is the existing situation where obedience is called for. Finally, certain magic items, particularly magic swords, tend to be argumentative and may refuse to obey uncertain, demanding, weak, or foolish masters.

If in doubt regarding obedience, the sure test is the one where you ask yourself if your character would do it. This test applies only to creatures, not magically endowed items. If you ask a henchman to try on a cloak, it is probable that he and all of your other henchmen and hirelings will expect that the garment will become his.

Likewise, if a servitor is asked to sample the contents of a potion bottle, the item is then regarded as the servitor’s property by all onlookers. Obedience is based on such considerations, i.e. fairness, justness, rewards, hazards, love, respect, fear, and similar repute and emotion.

NPCs and Morale

Morale properly refers to the state of mind of “troops” during combat or stress situations. Stupid creatures tend to fight to the death. So do creatures with a set purpose in mind - elite, guards, and fanatical creatures. Your character will never have to check morale status, nor will any other player character, for each player provides this personally. Some are brave, some foolish, some cautious, some cowardly. Your character’s henchmen will probably have to check morale, so too will hirelings. Powerful monsters will never check morale, and even weak ones will probably not do so as long as they have leadership.

When you require your henchmen and/or hirelings to take risks which your character is not personally taking, or when in hazardous situations with or without your character, or when faced with a defeated and fleeing enemy just overcome, or when given the prospect of rich loot, these are times when the campaign referee will usually require morale checks.

Obedience, actions, reactions, etc. will be decided by such morale checks. In addition to the influence your character’s Charisma has, the loyalty rating of henchmen and hirelings will be influenced by past treatment, current situation, and the behavior of any of their fellows nearby. Your lieutenants, if any, will provide a steadying influence. Higher level characters are unlikely to have poor morale unless they are faced with on obviously hopeless situation (at least as far as they can see it) and/or when they are low in hit points.

If you treat your henchmen and hirelings fairly, pay them well, and give them arms and equipment which allow them to effectively engage in combat by maximizing their protection and offensive potential, their morale base will be good. Furthermore, if you do not require them to take risks which your character does not take, if their mortality is not high, and their “master” does not abandon them to their fate as long as another course is possible, the “troops” will be likely to be firm in the face of nearly any threat. Lack of action, setbacks, and similar things reduce morale. A good player pays strict attention to these considerations.