D&D 5E Questions about the noble background ability Retainers

[TrueBagelMan]

It does say it has the stats of a commoner in the PHB.

 

[aco175]

I have DMed AL adventures before but am not a moderator or anything. I find the point of retainers is to expand roleplay and not be involved in combat or to give your PC an advantage somehow. I would allow the retainer to hunt and use firebolt that way since it does not affect AL modules. These all seem to be mostly linear and straightforward.

As another player in an AL game, I would be a bit upset if another player tried to overshadow the others by taking retainers and tries to make them more than they should. I would be cool if the other player took them as an aid and spread them out to better off the whole party.

In one of my regular games a player took this option. He ended up with a butler-type that would assist the noble and cook for the group. A horse-type that looked after the animals and hunted small game for the butler. The 3rd was a squire that held the torch in the dungeons or stayed out and protected the others. The squire ended up with some more power as the PCs advanced. He eventually became a first level NPC in power sometime when the PCs gained level 7 or so. He was a minor secondary character for the player, but managed to be a decent shooter.

 

[Hriston]

I would do the same but I would not apply all PHB racial features necessarily. Those are meant for PCs certainly, but not mandatory for NPCs.

I would not likely let the player choose retainers races in order to get more benefits than intended.

Right, getting access to racial traits the PC doesn’t already possess doesn’t seem to be the intent of this background feature.

And while I agree with you that racial traits aren’t mandatory for NPCs, I don’t see any reason not to apply them, and my preference is to do so uniformly to PCs and NPCs alike.

 

[Shiroiken]

Yes, it suggests in the rules (I can't remember where, probably the MM) adding racial traits to NPCs.

On the whole, I wouldn't use "commoner" for drow though. Even the average drow-in-the-street should be much tougher than a human peasant.

The section is in the DMG, and I don't believe they get everything. They have a specific list of traits and modifiers they get.

 

[Hriston]

I don’t think that’s true. The DM can certainly modify NPC stat blocks in this way, but it’s not the default.

I’ll agree that there’s no strong default in this regard, the operative word being can on p 342 of the MM. I was thinking more along the lines of p 282 of the DMG, however, where making adjustments to NPC stat blocks is given as an imperative:

If you want to take an NPC stat block and adapt it for a specific monster race, apply the ability modifiers and add the features listed in the NPC Features table.​

Edit: Of course, this isn’t to say that such adaptation isn’t entirely voluntary on the part of the DM. Only that in the case that adaptation of an NPC stat block is considered desirable, as, IMO, in most cases it would be, the DMG at least is quite prescriptive about how to do it.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

What are the uses of retainers then? All I can think of is they can carry an extra 450 pounds and keep watch during a long rest. Also they can help you put on and take off armor in half the time. That’s it that I can think off if they don’t gain racial traits.

Polishing armor and such doesn’t do anything in game. I think.

They are features from a background. None of the backgrounds give combat or significant mechanical benefits.

What the retainers are and can do for you is spelled out fairly well: They won't fight for you or go into danger, and will leave if they end up being put in danger too often.
They are NPCs who can be asked to do tasks suited to noncombat servants: carrying messages, looking after your mounts, preparing food and suchlike.

Like all background features, they are there to aid in a few roleplay situations. Having nice shiny armour doesn't give you any mechanical benefits usually, but would your Noble character really want to look like a slob?

 

[TrueBagelMan]

So the thing is the “retainers” thing just my characters travel buddies that he has met before the adventure. He once had a noble name is now on the run. What I dislike like about background features is that they are stuck with story strings attached to it. Why couldn’t I have just met them on my travels and decided to come with me. Like a rogue that’s very good at stealing could have the bad reputation modified to where he can do minor crimes nobody notices.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Why?

The Underdark is a harsh environment. A "commoner" drow would simply not survive.

But if we are talking FR drow, then any retainers would actually be slaves, and could be any race.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The section is in the DMG, and I don't believe they get everything. They have a specific list of traits and modifiers they get.

Nope. The section I am thinking of is in the Monster Manual, page 342: "Racial Traits. You can add racial traits to an NPC. Adding racial traits doesn't alter it's challenge rating. For more on racial traits see the PHB."

 

[TrueBagelMan]

So you do add racial traits to retainers?