Followers
An adventurer can hire hirelings and followers, and they may also negotiate with retainers to add them to the party. These people require rations and rest like player characters.
Followers can be recruited during Downtime Cycles as free actions by posting up help wanted signs on bulletin boards, frequenting local pubs, or bribing locals for information.
Availability
Availability of followers is dependent on settlement size and is also on a per Downtime Cycle basis.
| Settlement Size | Hirelings | Retainers |
|---|---|---|
| Hamlet | 1d2 | |
| Village | 1d4 | 1d2 |
| Small town | 1d6 | 1d4 |
| Large town | 1d8 | 1d6 |
| City | 1d10 | 1d8 |
Spending extra silver on advertising increases the number of applicants. Roll extra dice (of the appropriate size) equal to the number of posts or bribes for information and keep the highest result.
Each additional bribe or help wanted sign after the initial call for applications costs 2 silver.
Hirelings
Daily rates for hirelings follow. Incorporating holidays and other time off, monthly wages could be estimated at about 16x and yearly wages could be estimated at about 200x. Some workers are more commonly hired on a per job basis, such as barber-surgeons, masons, and blacksmiths.
Most people won’t delve into dungeons and other dangerous locations, not even mercenaries since they prefer an easy fight against other people, not monsters. Incentive pay can help to entice people to follow. These people will instantly make morale saves upon encountering a monster and will not assist in combat.
All of these hirelings have 3 days of rations on them.
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| Person | Gear | Daily Wage | Lifestyle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Porter | 1 | Meager | |
| Torchbearer | Torches (3 uses) | 1 | Meager |
| Labourer | 2 | Meager | |
| Rower | 2 | Meager | |
| Scribe | Candles (10 uses), ink and quill, parchment (10 uses) | 3 | Comfortable |
| Woodcutter | Axe, lantern, oil (10 uses) | 3 | Comfortable |
| Mercenary (12 STR, 6 CTRL, 4GD, 1 Armor, d6 weapon) | Shield (d4 1A), spear (d6), torches (3 uses) | 4 | Comfortable |
| Teamster | Whip (d6), lantern, oil (10 uses) | 4 | Comfortable |
| Hunter | Short bow (bulky, d6), trap (bulky), arrows, spear (d6) | 4 | Comfortable |
| Camp Follower (Cooking, animal grooming, laundry, chores, etc) | Cookpots, bucket, wash basin, tent (bulky), brush | 5 | Comfortable |
| Guide | Staff (d6), torch (3 uses) | 5 | Comfortable |
| Translator, Interpreter | Candles (10 uses), ink and quill, parchment (10 uses), book | 6 | Comfortable |
| Sailor | Net, rope | 6 | Comfortable |
| Armourer or Blacksmith (12 STR; 1GD) | Hammer, anvil (bulky) | 7 | Comfortable |
| Mason | Hammer, chisel | 10 | Luxurious |
| Master Builder | Hammer, ink and quill, parchment (10 uses) | 16 | Luxurious |
| Barber-Surgeon (12 CTRL; 1GD) | Healing kit (restores 1d4 STR, 3 uses), scalpel, cleaver (d6), scissors | 20 | Luxurious |
Mercenary Companies
Mercenary companies are more disciplined than individual hired mercenaries, though they still won’t delve into dungeons, but they will fight in the open field as long as they think they can win.
Companies have commanders and more specialized units. Commanders are needed for large groups of units. Groups of units can be treated as detachments.
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| Commander | Stats | Gear | Units Commanded | Daily Wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant | 12 STR, 4 GD, Shield (1A) | Shield (d4 1A), spear (d6), torches (3 uses), short sword (d6) | 10 | 3 x unit wage |
| Lieutenant | 12 STR, 12 CTRL, 6 GD, mail + shield (2A) | Shield (d4 1A), spear (d6), torches (3 uses), short sword (d6), riding horse, mail | 30 | 100 |
| Captain | 14 STR, 12 CTRL, 8 GD, mail + shield (2A) | Shield (d4 1A), torches (3 uses), bastard sword (d6), riding horse, spyglass, mail | 90 | 150 |
For more nuances within mercenary companies, refer to the specialized units below.
| Unit | Stats | Gear | Daily Wage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infantry, light | 12 STR, 6 CTRL, 4 GD | Spear (d6), Shield (1A) | 4 | |
| Infantry, heavy | 14 STR, 6 GD | Mace or Flail or Short sword (d6), mail + helmet + shield (3A) | 6 | |
| Cavalry, light | 12 DEX, 6 GD | Javelin (d6), war horse, short sword (d6), helmet (2A) | 20 | |
| Cavalry, heavy | 12 DEX, 4 GD | Pole arm (d10), war horse, mail + shield + helmet (3A), short sword (d6) | 40 | |
| Archer, long bow | 14 DEX, 3 GD | Long bow (d8), helmet (1A), short sword (d6) | 20 | |
| Archer, crossbow | 12 DEX, 6 CTRL, 3 GD | Crossbow (d8), helmet (1A), short sword (d6) | 8 | |
| Archer, mounted | 16 DEX, 6 GD | Long bow (d8), war horse, short sword (d6) | 30 | |
| Siege Engineers | 6 CTRL, 2 GD | Engineering gear | 20 | |
| Camp followers | 6 CTRL, 1 GD | Cookpots, bucket, wash basin, tent (bulky), brush | 4 | 1 for every 10 troops |
| Field medic | 12 CTRL, 1 GD | Healing kit (restores 1d4 STR, 3 uses), scalpel, cleaver (d6), scissors | 25 | 1 for every 10 troops |
As an example, for a company of 90 light infantry, you will need an additional 9 medics, 9 camp followers, 9 sergeants, 3 lieutenants, and 1 captain. To retain the services of such a company, you will need to pay (daily):
| Unit | Wage | Number per detachment | Wages subtotal per detachment | Total company number | Total company wages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light infantry | 4 | 10 | 40 | 90 | 360 |
| Medics | 25 | 1 | 25 | 9 | 225 |
| Camp followers | 4 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 36 |
| Sergeants | 12 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 108 |
| Lieutenants | 100 | 1/3 | - | 3 | 300 |
| Captain | 150 | 1/9 | - | 1 | 150 |
| Total | 81 | 121 | 1,179 |
Ship Crews
Ship crews can be hired as detachments in groups of Sailors (6sp/day) plus equal number of Camp Followers (4sp/day) and a number of Rowers (2sp/day) equal to the number of oars. This can be abstracted to 4sp/day per individual, averaging the higher paid sailors and lower paid rowers.
Retainers
From Dolmenwood
Generate a retainer using the retainer generator, or use the rules for creating an adventurer in Volume 2.
Retainers are adventurers just like the player characters. They take orders from the adventurer who hired them and should not be hired by the entire group, lest they be confused by having multiple bosses. Retainers use their boss’s CTRL when making morale saves.
They are paid a share of the loot from adventuring rather than daily wages.
| Offer Generosity | Reaction Modifier | Share Size |
|---|---|---|
| Mean | -2 | 1/4 |
| Poor | -1 | 1/3 |
| Standard | 0 | 1/2 |
| Decent | +1 | 2/3 |
| Generous | +2 | Full |
A reaction roll that can be modified by a variety of factors (including the initial offer) determines the ultimate outcome of the negotiation. The reaction may also be modified by offering specialty gear or an upfront signing bonus.
| 2d6 | Disposition |
|---|---|
| 2 or less | Angry refusal. Receive a bad reputation |
| 3-5 | Refusal |
| 6-8 | Will accept an improved offer |
| 9-11 | Acceptance |
| 12 or higher | Eager acceptance. Improved loyalty |
If an adventurer dies, a player may take on a retainer as their character. Ideally they should take on the role of another player’s retainer, if available, rather than their own. If there are no retainers available, they may take on the role of a hireling.
Follower Death
If a follower dies due to abuse by the party (using them as cannon fodder or leaving them to die), there may be backlash. A suspicious number of followers not coming back may also lead to these consequences. As always, rely on the fiction to inform results. Refer to the list below for potential consequences:
- Bad reputation (modifies future hire rolls)
- Bad reputation (reduces available followers by a die step)
- Lower loyalty for all other followers
- Wergild demanded by family (20x wages)
- Funeral expenses demanded by family
- Body demanded by family
- Blood feud from the family
- Return as undead (ghost, revenant, etc)