Arms & Equipment guide : Price for mercenaries

[Henrix]

The Cost of Hirelings section on p.61 says that the cost is per level.
So a 5th level mason charges (5x3 sp =) 15 sp per day, and a 12th lvl heavily armored knight (12 x 24 sp =) 288 sp per day, if you are able to find one for hire.

 

[MerricB]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand this section at all? I don't have my book in front of me right now, so I can't remember exactly what it said. However, I was trying to puzzle the system out last night and honestly could not figure it out.

Would someone care to explain it to me? All I need is an example, I think. How much would it cost to hire a 5th level warrior with equipment? How about without equipment?

I actually concluded that the book must be missing some information or contain a typo...maybe I was wrong?

You're not alone there.

I'm wondering this too.

There is a "daily cost" for hiring, (2sp * level / day), and a "price" of the mercenary. The price is basically the cost of the equipment, as far as I can tell.

Do you pay the full price then pay the retainer fee?
Just the retainer fee?

How does it work?

Cheers!

 

[Drew]

Henrix, thanks for the help.

Two things I still don't get. The mecenary pricing chart on page 68 makes little sense. Take the average money of a warrior and apply the progression in the NPC gear chart...apply how?

Also, how much would it cost to hire a group of 3rd level hobgoblin warriors?

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I don't have my book here at work, so I don't rememebr what it said. But costs wise 12th level warrior should be way more expensive than level 1 fighter. Me i'd look at the CR of a 12th level warrior and have him cost the same as a fighter of the same CR. I think warriors are like 1/2 or 3/4 their level in CR.

 

[AuraSeer]

Me i'd look at the CR of a 12th level warrior and have him cost the same as a fighter of the same CR. I think warriors are like 1/2 or 3/4 their level in CR.

NPC classes have CR one less than class level. A War12 is CR 11.

 

[Drew]

You're not alone there.

I'm wondering this too.

There is a "daily cost" for hiring, (2sp * level / day), and a "price" of the mercenary. The price is basically the cost of the equipment, as far as I can tell.

Do you pay the full price then pay the retainer fee?
Just the retainer fee?

How does it work?

Cheers!

When you say "price" are you referring to the "cost" on the price chart? I had no idea what that item even referred to. Its seems to be inplied that is represents the cost of their equipment, but most of the equipment does not add up to that number. What the heck does the "cost" mean?

 

[Murrdox]

I don't have the AaEG right here in front of me...

But I would imagine that since you're HIRING the Merc... "Cost" would mean his cost of living. After all, since the Merc is working for YOU now, he's not going to pay for his own bed to sleep in, stabling and feed for his horse, his meals, someone to polish his sword, shine his boots, and maintain his armor.

I would imagine the daily cost is basically how expensive it is to keep him around - I guess which does not include his salary... you have to budget money to feed the troops, afterall.

 

[Pagan priest]

Table 4-4 has an entry for cost. This is the cost of purchasing the gear the merc is using (armor, shield, weapons...). While I have not checked the arithmetic for all the entries, it looks about right.

The equipment cost is used to figure the level of the troops. The side bar on pg 68 explains that the average starting wealth for a 1st level warrior is 60gp, therefore a mercenary's equipment can be purchased by a level 1 merc only if it costs less than 60gp. For higher level warriors, use the table 2-44: NPC Gear, from the DMG to figure out what level the warrior would have to be to be able to afford to purchase the gear listed.

If the PC's want to hire merc's without gear, then the cost is only 2sp per day per level, or 4sp if they are mounted troops.

 

[Drew]

Some of this still makes no sense at all. The side bar on page 68 says that a "heavy hitter" with "half-plate, a heavy warhorse, and the works" would have to be at least 10th level to afford this gear. According to table 2-44: NPC Gear, a 10th level NPC should have 16,000gp in gear. Where is the other 14,000gp going?

Look again at that sidebar and tell me if it makes any sense. It says to take the average gear of a 1st level warrior (60gp) and apply the progression from table 2-44 in the DMG. That table doesn't have some set progression that I can determine...so I'm left clueless as to how to "apply it."

I'm willing to accept that a 10th level mercenary that my PC hires is going to be less well equipped than a PC or even PC classed NPC of the same level, but 14,000gp less? And, even if that is the case, it would be nice to understand how the designers went from 16,000gp in gear for a 10th level NPC to something like 1,000gp in gear for a mercenary. Doesn't make any sense, and a rule that makes no sense is no rule at all.

SO....somebody please prove me wrong and point out what I'm missing, because at this point I'm just annoyed at the whole chapter.

 

[Drew]

Here's a bump, hoping that someone can comment on this.