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<blockquote data-quote="Wycen" data-source="post: 3368413" data-attributes="member: 13732">Now that I'm home rather than work I can sit down for a longer explanation.&nbsp; The answer has something to do with the campaign style.For example, for my Sunday group the DM isn't a fan of followers.&nbsp; He doesn't even allow your cohort to come with you.&nbsp; That pretty much makes Leadership a bad choice unless you really want to work on the story of what your people are doing while you are crawling through dungeons.But, it seems he may have relented a bit in the follower taboo.&nbsp; As I said I'm playing a noble and at 3rd level gained a &quot;retinue&quot;.&nbsp; Think of it as Leadership Lite.&nbsp; Only NPC classes, they are followers, not cohorts, their level is half your level and they can never rise above 5th level.So, I crafted a dwarven adept, equipped with a cure light wounds wand.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp; Our party has 2 cleric but neither player was able to make it that day.&nbsp; &nbsp; So you have an NPC class saddled with a non-elite array and in this NPC's case no hope of anything better than 5th level and the only reason the character existed was as a stop gap measure.Now, let's consider if I gained the benefit of Leadership as it hopefully works in most campaigns.I believe we used 32 point buy.&nbsp; For my &quot;cohort&quot; (I don't get one until next level - 6th) I choose a dwarven cleric.&nbsp; Depending on if I want 18 for WIS, I have to sacrifice points in another stat or 2.&nbsp; I chose to go with a 16 for Wisdom.Compare the Elite Array and assign the 15 to Wisdom.&nbsp; The cohort can start at 4th level due to the leadership score, so I can assign the 4th level ability bonus to WIS for a total of 16.Either way, that is a bonus of one 1st level, 2nd and 3rd level spell, versus the bonus of one 1st level spell for the non-elite array.&nbsp; And this is specifically for a spell casting class.Then the closests your cohort can be to your level is 2 levels lower, unless you are a bad leader, then it could be lower, (course then why are you taking the feat, you might have better choices).&nbsp; The non-elite array might work better for a Fighter or Rogue, but they are still hampered by that 13 STR or DEX.&nbsp; A certain race might help this, such as half-orc.&nbsp; In my case I went with dwarf because they have darkvision and the CON bonus and other abilities complement my character's lack of said abilities, being human, (pitch black dungeons not my cup of tea).So I guess at the end of the day, if you get attached to a crappy PC or NPC you might want to keep them around, but starting with a crappy character is something most people don't enjoy.&nbsp; If I'm generalizing and you are one of those people, howdy.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Wycen, post: 3368413, member: 13732"] Now that I'm home rather than work I can sit down for a longer explanation. The answer has something to do with the campaign style. For example, for my Sunday group the DM isn't a fan of followers. He doesn't even allow your cohort to come with you. That pretty much makes Leadership a bad choice unless you really want to work on the story of what your people are doing while you are crawling through dungeons. But, it seems he may have relented a bit in the follower taboo. As I said I'm playing a noble and at 3rd level gained a "retinue". Think of it as Leadership Lite. Only NPC classes, they are followers, not cohorts, their level is half your level and they can never rise above 5th level. So, I crafted a dwarven adept, equipped with a cure light wounds wand. Why? Our party has 2 cleric but neither player was able to make it that day. So you have an NPC class saddled with a non-elite array and in this NPC's case no hope of anything better than 5th level and the only reason the character existed was as a stop gap measure. Now, let's consider if I gained the benefit of Leadership as it hopefully works in most campaigns. I believe we used 32 point buy. For my "cohort" (I don't get one until next level - 6th) I choose a dwarven cleric. Depending on if I want 18 for WIS, I have to sacrifice points in another stat or 2. I chose to go with a 16 for Wisdom. Compare the Elite Array and assign the 15 to Wisdom. The cohort can start at 4th level due to the leadership score, so I can assign the 4th level ability bonus to WIS for a total of 16. Either way, that is a bonus of one 1st level, 2nd and 3rd level spell, versus the bonus of one 1st level spell for the non-elite array. And this is specifically for a spell casting class. Then the closests your cohort can be to your level is 2 levels lower, unless you are a bad leader, then it could be lower, (course then why are you taking the feat, you might have better choices). The non-elite array might work better for a Fighter or Rogue, but they are still hampered by that 13 STR or DEX. A certain race might help this, such as half-orc. In my case I went with dwarf because they have darkvision and the CON bonus and other abilities complement my character's lack of said abilities, being human, (pitch black dungeons not my cup of tea). So I guess at the end of the day, if you get attached to a crappy PC or NPC you might want to keep them around, but starting with a crappy character is something most people don't enjoy. If I'm generalizing and you are one of those people, howdy. [/QUOTE]

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