mattcolville
Adventurer
TL;DR: I'm interested in building a D&D campaign that's more focused around the principle of Lordship presented in AD&D and OD&D. I'm looking for help specifically with charts for followers. Starting with, why not, the Cleric. You got any ideas, post them here! I'll curate the results and create a chart and post it. Then anyone can use it or monkey with it for their own game.
At some point in my 5th edition game (say, 7th level, but it's up to you) the player can build a stronghold, and become a lord. When they do this, they automatically attract followers, rolling on a chart to see what they get. Here are some examples of those charts from Dragon Magazine circa 1985.
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers1.gif
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers2.gif
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers3.gif
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers4.gif
Obviously those are crazy. Demons for Evil Paladins. But! The purpose of these charts, at least for me, is to give the players something to covet. Something to look at and go "Ooh, I want to roll on that chart!" Yeah you do. So it should have crazy stuff at the sharp end. By design. An Angel or a Solar for a Cleric, for instance. Maybe an Angel subchart you roll on if you get the coveted 99th percentile result.
These followers exist primarily to defend the stronghold, keep it running, supplement the player's extra-adventuring career, and accompany him on solo missions.
They don't go on adventures with the party. Don't ask for a diagetic explanation, I ain't got one.
Strongholds are an important part of my game, they let you do spell research, raise armies, build a spy network, stuff related to your class but not purely adventuring related. Downtime stuff.
Part of the idea of Followers is Follower-classes, which I don't see in the DMG. The Follower-class for Clerics, for instance, is the Acolyte who has blessings and curative spells, but not as many and doesn't fight. Useful, but not a full PC-class worth of abilities.
So that's one kind of thing you can find on a follower chart. Some number of Follower-NPCs and the logic is usually
Many low level or
Few medium level or
One high level
Where "high level" might be 5th level. Remember you don't get to roll on this chart until, at the earliest, 7th level.
Also, lots of strongholds have guards. Men-at-arms. Not just fighter strongholds. And a Cleric who founds a Church might attract a local Druid, for instance, doesn't have to be exclusively only Cleric-related stuff for a church. Just primarily cleric themed.
One thing I'd like to avoid is the "1d6 chambermaids" results. A dwarven engineer is useful to a Lord Fighter, but we can assume your stronghold comes with or attracts the people it needs to manage it. Butlers or tailors or whatever, depending on your stronghold.
I'd rather stick to stuff I can imagine a use for. Alchemists can make potions, maybe potions normal PCs can't make. Scribes do the same with scrolls. Miners can produce ore that's worth money. Engineers can improve the stronghold.
So we have Follower-class folks, and utility-NPCs like scribes and guards. What else?
Well, the sharp end of the chart should have some crazy stuff! Monsters aligned to the church, for instance (good, let's assumed). A Druid founding a Grove should have a chance of attracting a Unicorn! Absolutely!
What that is for Clerics, I dunno. That's what I'm hoping to find out.
What kind of stuff would you like to see on the Cleric Followers chart?
At some point in my 5th edition game (say, 7th level, but it's up to you) the player can build a stronghold, and become a lord. When they do this, they automatically attract followers, rolling on a chart to see what they get. Here are some examples of those charts from Dragon Magazine circa 1985.
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers1.gif
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers2.gif
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers3.gif
http://www.squaremans.com/Followers4.gif
Obviously those are crazy. Demons for Evil Paladins. But! The purpose of these charts, at least for me, is to give the players something to covet. Something to look at and go "Ooh, I want to roll on that chart!" Yeah you do. So it should have crazy stuff at the sharp end. By design. An Angel or a Solar for a Cleric, for instance. Maybe an Angel subchart you roll on if you get the coveted 99th percentile result.
These followers exist primarily to defend the stronghold, keep it running, supplement the player's extra-adventuring career, and accompany him on solo missions.
They don't go on adventures with the party. Don't ask for a diagetic explanation, I ain't got one.
Strongholds are an important part of my game, they let you do spell research, raise armies, build a spy network, stuff related to your class but not purely adventuring related. Downtime stuff.
Part of the idea of Followers is Follower-classes, which I don't see in the DMG. The Follower-class for Clerics, for instance, is the Acolyte who has blessings and curative spells, but not as many and doesn't fight. Useful, but not a full PC-class worth of abilities.
So that's one kind of thing you can find on a follower chart. Some number of Follower-NPCs and the logic is usually
Many low level or
Few medium level or
One high level
Where "high level" might be 5th level. Remember you don't get to roll on this chart until, at the earliest, 7th level.
Also, lots of strongholds have guards. Men-at-arms. Not just fighter strongholds. And a Cleric who founds a Church might attract a local Druid, for instance, doesn't have to be exclusively only Cleric-related stuff for a church. Just primarily cleric themed.
One thing I'd like to avoid is the "1d6 chambermaids" results. A dwarven engineer is useful to a Lord Fighter, but we can assume your stronghold comes with or attracts the people it needs to manage it. Butlers or tailors or whatever, depending on your stronghold.
I'd rather stick to stuff I can imagine a use for. Alchemists can make potions, maybe potions normal PCs can't make. Scribes do the same with scrolls. Miners can produce ore that's worth money. Engineers can improve the stronghold.
So we have Follower-class folks, and utility-NPCs like scribes and guards. What else?
Well, the sharp end of the chart should have some crazy stuff! Monsters aligned to the church, for instance (good, let's assumed). A Druid founding a Grove should have a chance of attracting a Unicorn! Absolutely!
What that is for Clerics, I dunno. That's what I'm hoping to find out.
What kind of stuff would you like to see on the Cleric Followers chart?