My player is going to hate his cohort...

[Vlos]

I have to agree with AO. You shouldn't criple the player so much for the feat. Now because he wants a character that you may not normally allow in your campaign, that's a bit of your own fault. Would you allow a player to play a character of that class? If so, then why are you cripling a cohort? If not, then why are you allowing a NPC of such?

But in either case your allowing it. Maybe limit how much access you allow at any one time and always only allow her to control it. She can't give it or loan it to others, because only she has the mentality to use it.

Also rather than having her be a sociopath and killing party members and such, have her be someone who really is someone who just is unstable and needs help, mentally and physically. This way the character has to take care of the character and watch out for her rather than worry about her stabbing them in the back, which in my opinion a cohort should never do.

Now the cohort may be very jelous of other party members, but because of her lack of physical capabilities can't really present much of a threat except maybe scratching or telling lies to other non-party members, which may cause enough trouble, but again nothing that would get her boss in trouble, because again that goes against the nature of the leadership feat.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Not quite as nice!!

Not quite as nice as a girl who slashes at people with big kitchen knives on a whim because "red is becoming" them?

 

[lukelightning]

Lukelightning's Rules of Leadership (tm):

1: The cohort is run by the player. As a DM I've already got too many people to control. Besides, it's the PC's feat.

2: The player gets what he asks for if it's reasonable (according to the campaign). If I don't want a certain type (race, class, or whatever), I'll say no; but generally if it's ok for a PC it's ok for a cohort.

3: The cohort is "as advertised" and not secretly a succubus in disguise waiting to betray the party or an illithid-dominated assassin. Do not punish the player for choosing this feat. It's a feat, not a plot hook or tag-along NPC .

3: The cohort should not be more interesting than the PC. The PC is supposed to be the interesting quirky one that does lots of special stuff. The cohort is the one who assists. This is, of course, somewhat subjective.

Of course, you told the player this person would be insane and he said "ok" but be very careful with this. It's not just him who has to deal with this but the rest of the party. The insanity doesn't have to be super kill everyone berzerker stuff.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I don't think he's punishing the player. The player said he wanted something from the feat that is not normally allowed in the campaign. The DM said okay, but it will have this drawback. The player agreed. This is the type of interaction the player-empowerment crowd always says they want. So what's the problem?

Oh, I also think having the player run his cohort is a poor idea. Too many instances of "of course my cohort will die for me" and similar issues.

On-topic, something that might be fun is to have the cohort go nuts in different ways at different times. In the daytime, she gibbers and shrieks, strikes out ineffectualy with her fists and tries to run away. At night, she pretends to be asleep and unwakeable, but meanwhile funky, dangerous things are happening with her powers. Played right, the party could think they have an usees tormenter.

 

[Storyteller01]

I don't think he's punishing the player. The player said he wanted something from the feat that is not normally allowed in the campaign. The DM said okay, but it will have this drawback. The player agreed. This is the type of interaction the player-empowerment crowd always says they want. So what's the problem?

Oh, I also think having the player run his cohort is a poor idea. Too many instances of "of course my cohort will die for me" and similar issues.

On-topic, something that might be fun is to have the cohort go nuts in different ways at different times. In the daytime, she gibbers and shrieks, strikes out ineffectualy with her fists and tries to run away. At night, she pretends to be asleep and unwakeable, but meanwhile funky, dangerous things are happening with her powers. Played right, the party could think they have an usees tormenter.

In a nut shell!! It isn't that I'm crippling the cohort (she's still capable of doing what the character wants), or that I'm punishing the player. If you read chaositech, lots of things go wrong with those who use it or are exposed to it over long periods. My bbeg's and their group uses this stuff almost exclusively. Per the plot, this character has VERY loose ties to the antagonists (his god was one of them before it was killed). This player wanted access. When I denied his ability to simply go and buy the items, he came up with this approach.

Anyways, the insanity is an inherent part of anyone using the stuff. He created the cohort to not only have her use it, but to make it for him (knowing full well the consequences for him, the cohort, and the other players such as warping their ship). The other players didn't mind in the vote (and even seem to be looking forward to the roleplaying opportunities), so I balanced it with this ruling.

 

[Storyteller01]

Of course, you told the player this person would be insane and he said "ok" but be very careful with this. It's not just him who has to deal with this but the rest of the party. The insanity doesn't have to be super kill everyone berzerker stuff.

Exactly! And I would appreciate any suggestions for more subtle insanities to introduce.

 

[Storyteller01]

Not quite as nice as a girl who slashes at people with big kitchen knives on a whim because "red is becoming" them?

She lived among far worse psychics than what River was exposed to...

 

[Storyteller01]

But you can see she has "Ranger Levels"

Or fighter. Iron Kingdom rangers don't get weapon styles.

 

[starwolf]

Well here's an idea:

Instead of having the DM or the PC play the cohort, have the whole group play her! Of course the primary player should have the final say, but if each of the other players have a chance to decide the cohorts actions periodically then you should end up with some interesting quirks as each player puts their own spin on the character.

It should be noted that this can only work if the players all get along and are fair and mature.

 

[Storyteller01]

I like!! I can play during stress situations or combat, but RPing can be done by the group...

Hmmm.....