D&D 5E Are henchmen/troupe-play viable in 5E?

[Halivar]

I just came off a long 1E kick (year long ToEE campaign) and I have to say I loved the troupe style of play, both in combat and in roleplay, and was hoping I could capture some measure of this in 5E. The things that prevent this from working in 3E and 4E are:

• Long, complicated fights
• Fiddly NPC construction
• Non-viability of low-level PC's/NPC's in a high level party
• Non-viability of low-magic characters in a high level party

Has anyone tried a troupe campaign yet? If so, what were the results?

 

[zoroaster100]

Can you explain what you mean by troupe play? I think I know what you mean (group larger than 4 or 5 characters, and including widely varying levels?) but wasn't sure. From what I've heard 5E will support play with varying level characters, but I've not tried that in the 5E playtest so I cannot confirm it. And I don't know how much variance in level the system will tolerate without having problems.

 

[Mistwell]

I just came off a long 1E kick (year long ToEE campaign) and I have to say I loved the troupe style of play, both in combat and in roleplay, and was hoping I could capture some measure of this in 5E. The things that prevent this from working in 3E and 4E are:
[*]Long, complicated fights

All fights are much shorter than either 3e or 4e

[*]Fiddly NPC construction

PCs take 10-15 minutes to create, and NPCs need not follow all PC rules and can take much less time

[*]Non-viability of low-level PC's/NPC's in a high level party

Due to bounded accuracy, all low level creatures, including NPCs, are a more viable threat even versus a higher level foe.

[*]Non-viability of low-magic characters in a high level party

Not sure what you mean by this one.

 

[thalmin]

The only part missing from the earliest editions is (I believe) the Charisma-based limits to numbers of followers. Since tactical play is no longer a requirement, and combat progresses se rapidly, there should be no problems. Of course, just like in AD&D, lower level troops will drop faster due to lower HP, but their firepower will still be a big factor.

 

[Lanefan]

The only part missing from the earliest editions is (I believe) the Charisma-based limits to numbers of followers.

I think this is something I'd put back in, both to give Charisma something to do and to (somewhat) keep the number of henches from getting completely out of hand.

That said, I'm otherwise very glad to hear this news.

Lanefan

 

[Scorpio616]

• non-viability of low-magic characters in a high level party

Not sure what you mean by this one.

I'm guessing "will accompanying low magic chracters be able to occasionally hit ACs of the PCs foes without magic dodads?" "Will their damage be worth a damn?" & "Can a mid level enemy caster kill all of them at once since they won't have enough protections?"

 

[Mistwell]

I'm guessing "will accompanying low magic chracters be able to occasionally hit ACs of the PCs foes without magic dodads?" "Will their damage be worth a damn?" & "Can a mid level enemy caster kill all of them at once since they won't have enough protections?"

Ah, then yes to that question too. Particularly if one is a Cleric who casts bless on the rest of the party (a first level spell)

 

[Halivar]

Everyone guessed what I meant correctly!

This is fantastic news. Agree on the Charisma-based henchmen limits. As a DM, I don't really "dig" Diplomacy as a skill to be rolled on each and every NPC (even though I do it as a player; if there's going to be a terribly broken rule, I will not unilaterally disarm), and this gives Charisma-based characters extra oomph in the absence of Diplomancers.

 

[Mistwell]

I asked Mike Mearls on Twitter about followers and charisma, and this was his response:

DMG has rules - followers have a loyalty rating influenced by Charisma, determines bond to you, changes depending on treatment

 

[FitzTheRuke]

The Battlesystem rules for mass combat should make it easy to run fights with many followers without bogging down the game with too many characters... or at least, that's what it's supposed to do. I don't really know anything about it, aside from it exists.