Cohort's gear - as PC or NPC?

[pawsplay]

NPC gear. Their PC master is probably going to trick them out like a city cowboy's pickup anyway.

 

[dcollins]

The cohort has gear as an NPC... (3.0 DMG p. 46)

x x x

 

[Joshua Randall]

Thanks for the opinions -- especially dcollins' citation from the 3.0 DMG. I wonder if the 3.5 PH/DMG has a similar phrase, and if so, why it wouldn't be in the SRD? Anyone care to check?

 

[Nifft]

Yeah, NPC gear -- the PC should have to decide how to spend his share of the treasure, on himself or his Cohort.

-- N

 

[Shazman]

I would even go so far as to give the cohort only his level x 1000 worth of equipment.
Any other equipment comes from the PC's share, unless the DM and group decide certain items would help the party more by being in the cohort's hands.

 

[Crothian]

I wouldn't expect the equipment to come from just one PC, I'd expect the group would decide what out of their treasure the cohort would get. A cohort is a member of the party and deserves a share of the pie, not a share of a single PC's piece.

 

[Nifft]

A cohort is a member of the party and deserves a share of the pie, not a share of a single PC's piece.

IMC, I don't give them XP, so other players won't resent that they exist. Thus, to me, they're not really part of the party -- they're part of the character who took Leadership.

-- N

 

[Joshua Randall]

Just to clarify, my original question related to a cohort's initial gear; i.e., what the cohort gets at the moment that the PC attracts him with Leadership. The consensus seems to be that the cohort should be outfitted as an NPC of his level would be.

Obviously, after creation, the cohort could end up being laden with gear, or not, as each PC / party / DM determines.

Nifft, per the 3.5 SRD, the cohort does not suck XP away from the real PCs.

Cohorts earn XP as follows:

The cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party’s XP.

Divide the cohort’s level by the level of the PC with whom he or she is associated (the character with the Leadership feat who attracted the cohort).

Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to the PC and add that number of experience points to the cohort’s total.

What this means is that if a group of 4 PCs, one of whom has a cohort, earns 1000 XP, then each PC gains 250 XP (1000 / 4 = 250 and not 1000 / 5 = 200). The cohort earns some proportion of 250 XP, determined as (cohort level) / (master level) * 250 XP.

Edit: the above method is the 3.0 way to determine XP. In 3.5, you need to compare each PC's (E)CL to each monster's CR, then divide by the number of PCs. The important point is that even in the 3.5 XP method, you'd still only be dividing by the number of PCswhich does not include any cohorts (per the rule quoted above).

 

[Darkness]

Thanks for the opinions -- especially dcollins' citation from the 3.0 DMG. I wonder if the 3.5 PH/DMG has a similar phrase, and if so, why it wouldn't be in the SRD? Anyone care to check?

3.5 DMG, p.106:

The cohort should be equipped with gear appropriate for its level (see Table 4-23, NPC Gear Value, page 127)