D&D 5E Hireling Costs

[pukunui]

Hi guys,

The PHB states that a skilled hireling (such as a mercenary proficient with a weapon) has a base cost of 2gp per day. It then says that expert NPCs might charge more, but never really goes into how much more.

The PCs in my Scourge of the Sword Coast campaign have had some trouble dealing with some duergar who have overtaken a dwarf stronghold. One of my players has been talking about going to a nearby town to get some reinforcements for another assault.

Considering the potentially lethal nature of that kind of work, what would you guys have the following types of NPCs charge to help the PCs?

Bandit
Gladiator
Guard
Knight
Scout
Veteran

Bear in mind that the PCs themselves got paid 50 gp each per job to investigate and put a stop to raids by orcs, gnolls and goblinoids. Should I just have any NPCs they seek to hire charge a similar flat fee rather than a daily rate? The PCs have plenty of money, but I have a feeling the players won't want to pay an NPC more than their characters were paid.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Jonathan

 

[Henry]

I've dealt with this EXACT question last game session. my level 3 PCs put out the call, so I drafted the bandit, the guard, and the acolyte (all 2hit dice npcs) as potential hires. He has a coup,e of useful cantrips, has a club, and i gave him studded leather armor, and he was perfect. The player who hired him is sinking 60 gp into him for a month, and he feels like he's getting a useful service from him, despite that he doesn't add a lot of oomph to the party's might.

I definitely wouldn't allow the NPCs to be any more than 1/3 the party's level, possibly less - for a mage mercenary, I hit on the idea of tweaking the Acolyte, give him a staff, 2 wizard cantrips and 1 first level spell, and swap wisdom and intelligence. Even a 2 Hit Dice hireling is a very handy thing to have.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=158]Henry[/MENTION]: OK. My PCs are at 6th level - and although there are five of them, this player says her character "isn't stupid enough" to risk getting captured by the duergar again without backup. Of course, she was willing to send her PC off alone on a 20-day round trip journey through the wilderness to their base town, but I pointed out there's a closer town known to cater to adventurers, so the others have agreed to head that way with her PC to look at hiring some reinforcements.

Do you reckon I should just limit them to the low end of the scale: eg. acolyte, bandit, guard, scout, tribe member?

 

[Minigiant]

Well a skilled hireling costs 2gp a day which matches up with a comfortable lifestyle. This matches up to CR 1/8 guards and bandits. Then you double it for hazard pay.

Then adjust for XP.

Bandit/Guard 2gp/4gp a day
Scout 8gp/16gp a day
Veteran/Knight ~50gp/100gp a day

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=63508]Minigiant[/MENTION]: Could you "show your work" for me please? I don't really understand how you got those figures.

How does a comfortable lifestyle "match up" to CR 1/8 NPCs?

What do you mean by "adjust for XP"?

Thanks!

 

[Minigiant]

[MENTION=63508]Minigiant[/MENTION]: Could you "show your work" for me please? I don't really understand how you got those figures.

How does a comfortable lifestyle "match up" to CR 1/8 NPCs?

What do you mean by "adjust for XP"?

Thanks!

Basically, the PHB states a skilled hireling costs 2gp a day. A guard or bandit seems to be the lowest level skilled hireling you can get. So that's 2gp a day for a CR 1/8 hireling. Double that if you plan to take them into active danger. It matches to the lifestyle expenses of a comfortable lifestyle which itself mentions being the level of military officers.

Then multiple that value based on any other NPC hireling. A CR 1/2 scout costs 4 times as much as a CR 1/8 guard.

Although, past CR 1, most civilized humanoids will be "named NPCs" and have stats which might require a Charisma check to negotiate salary.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=63508]Minigiant[/MENTION]: Gotcha. Thanks.

 

[Henry]

I concur with [MENTION=63508]Minigiant[/MENTION] -- Keeping in mind that these are (in AD&D terms) hirelings and not full on cohorts, even the bandits and guards have a proficiency bonus and primary stats that, thanks to bounded accuracy, are only one or two behind the weakest in the party. Would i pay 2gp a day for someone who was 80% as capable as me at fighting? Heck yes! You start adding in the more competent NPCs and you've just doubled party firepower for the cost of a night's stay at a good Inn.

Some might say that these NPCs arent full PCs in terms of power, but I believe the extra action economy counts for a lot and nullifies that these guys don't have all the bells and whistles of a full PC. Besides, the PCs are supposed to be the star, and having a ton of NPCs mutes that in my opinion, so better to make them a slightly losing proposition - just good enough to be worth it, but not so good they're hiring NPCs every single session from now on.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I would argue that a guard or a bandit are what you become when you're NOT a skilled hireling but also not a peasant farmer, either.

 

[Minigiant]

G

I would argue that a guard or a bandit are what you become when you're NOT a skilled hireling but also not a peasant farmer, either.

The DMG states that the daily costs of a castle or fort mostly come from guards which take up the majority of skilled hirelings. The rest being the steward who writes the checks and orders around the unskilled hirelings.