Companions - Bringing Back Leadership

[Alex319]

One of the many things some players miss about 3e is the ability to use the Leadership feat to get companions. One reason that companions pose a problem for balance and playability is that they effectively provide extra actions, which are one of the most important resources in the game and thus significantly improve the power of the character. Therefore, I came up with an idea that will enable players to have useful companions in a way that doesn't unbalance the game: by making the companions not mainly be useful in battle, but mainly be useful in other ways. Here are the rules I came up with.

Feat: Leadership (Heroic Tier)

Requirements: None

You may gain one companion of up to your level.

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Companions:

Overview

Companions are built according to the NPC rules, with a class template applied to them, as described in the Monster Manual (IIRC). However, companions are rarely used in combat as such. Instead, they provide passive bonuses and can be used in out-of-combat activities.

Building a Companion

To build a companion, you must build the companion according to the NPC rules, apply a class template, choose trained skills appropriate for the character class chosen, and then choose options for the following two choices:

Companion Type: The companion type determines which type of companion special ability you get.

Motivation: The motivation of the companion determines additional ways to raise or lower your Relationship Score with him, which determines the strength of the Companion Special Abilities and what tasks the companion can do for you.

Relationship Score

The Relationship Score (RS) determines the strength of your relationship with the companion. A low RS means that companion distrusts you and works for you only grudgingly, while a high RS means the companion thinks of you as a good employer and is willing to do more for you.

Your RS with a companion starts at (5 + CHA modifier). This changes due to the following events (to be explained further below):

(Note: X = the value of a magic item of the companion's level)

Player gains a level: +2
Companion forced into combat: -1
Companion injured: -1
Companion reduced to bloodied status: -2
Companion knocked out: -4
Each (X/5) gold pieces owed to companion but not paid (Hireling Only): -1

If your RS goes to zero, the companion gets fed up and leaves. The RS cannot go above 20.

Motivations

Motivations provide additional ways to increase (or reduce) your relationship score with a companion.

Money: Pretty self-explanatory. Enables you to pay your companion bonuses to increase the relationship score, but gives you more of a penalty if you shortchange him. (Special: Companions with the Money motivation demand the 10 percent share of treasure even if they are not Hirelings.)

Each X additional gold pieces paid to companion (above normal 10 percent share) : +2
Each (X/5) gold pieces owed to companion but not paid: -2 (instead of -1)

Adventure: People with the Adventure motivation are out there simply for the excitement of adventuring and completing quests. They like completing quests, but don't like failing them.

Minor quest completed: +1
Major quest completed: +2 to +4
Minor quest failed: -1
Major quest failed: -2 to -4

Alignment: People with the Alignment motivation are motivated by an allegiance to the forces of good (or evil). If you are on their side they will be more willing to work with you.

Act in support of Companion's alignment: +1 to +4
Act in opposition to Companion's alignment: -1 to -4

Objective: These people are adventuring in search of a particular objective - whether it be finding a lost family member, gaining revenge on a hated enemy, or searching for true love.

Make effort to go toward Companion's objective: +1
Tangible progress toward Companion's objective: +2 to +4
Refuse to help Companion on his objective: -1 to -4

Companion Special Abilities

Choose one of the following special abilities for your companion. You get the listed abilities for your Relationship Score. The abilities are cumulative; for instance if the RS is 12, then you get the abilities for "1 or higher," "5 or higher," and "10 or higher."

The special abilities are based on a companion of your level. A companion of lower level than you is less of a help: for each level below you, treat the companion's RS as 3 points less for purposes of determining special abilities.

Squire: A squire helps carry your equipment, maintain your weapons, prepare your meals, etc., giving you more staying power throughout a long day of adventuring.

1 or higher: The squire can carry 50 pounds of equipment for you.
5 or higher: Gain +1 to Endurance.
10 or higher: Gain an additional +1 to Endurance, for a total of +2.
15 or higher: Gain 1 additional healing surge.
20: Regain one healing surge after every milestone reached.

Adept: An adept is a wizard-in-training, and can help you perform rituals and study your spells.

1 or higher: Gain +1 to Arcana checks for ritual casting.
5 or higher: The bonus increases to +2.
10 or higher: Once per day, you may spend an action point and a healing surge to regain one daily power of an arcane power source.
15 or higher: Once per day, you may spend a healing surge to regain one daily power of an arcane power srouce. This replaces the "10 or higher" ability.
20: Once per day, you may regain one daily power of an arcane power source. This replaces the "10 or higher" and "15 or higher" abilities.

Acolyte: An acolyte is a cleric-in-training, and can help you perform religious rituals and recover prayers.

1 or higher: Gain +1 to Religion checks for ritual casting.
5 or higher: The bonus increases to +2.
10 or higher: Once per day, you may spend an action point and a healing surge to regain one daily power of a divine power source.
15 or higher: Once per day, you may spend a healing surge to regain one daily power of a divine power srouce. This replaces the "10 or higher" ability.
20: Once per day, you may regain one daily power of a divine power source. This replaces the "10 or higher" and "15 or higher" abilities.

Student: A student is one who studies skills. Students can help you perform skills you are not good at.

1 or higher: You gain a +1 bonus on any skill that your student is trained in but you are not.
5 or higher: The bonus increases to +2.
10 or higher: The bonus increases to +3.
15 or higher: Once per day, gain a +2 bonus on a skill check that your student is trained in. This must be declared before the roll.
20: When using the "15 or higher" ability, you may wait until after the roll before deciding whether to use the bonus.

Other Uses of Companions

Companions can also be used to do things other than grant their bonuses. First of all they can be used to do anything they would normally be able to do that doesn't involve combat. To get them to do this you must make a "relationship score check" (1d20 + RS) and make a DC based on the type of action:

DC 10: Very simple; little to no risk involved. Example: Running to the market in town to pick up some innocuous goods.

DC 15: More complicated; moderate to low risk involved. Example: Eavesdropping on a conversation between two nasty, tough-looking guys in a tavern.

DC 20: Quite involved or with significant risk. Example: Investigating a cave outside of town where mysterious goings-on have happened.

DC 25: Clear, immediate danger involved. Example: Jumping over a pit of lava.

Also, you can force a companion into combat. Even though companions normally do not participate in combat, you can force them into one in an emergency. This costs a point of RS (as described above) and also costs additional points if the companion is wounded. (Note that the given RS penalties for wounds are calculated at the end of each combat or non-combat encounter, and only the worst one applies each time. For example you do not get a -1 for each attack that hit the companion.)

Acquiring Companions

In general there are several ways of acquiring companions.

Leadership Feat: The Leadership feat enables you to get a companion for free. You should work with your DM to come up with a good way of meeting this companion. If you lose the companion (due to death or desertion) you keep the feat, but you do not automatically get a new one - you have to find one. How you go about finding a new one is up to your DM.

Hirelings: Hirelings can be hired for a price equal to the cost of a magical item of their level. They also demand payment equal to a 10 percent share of the player's treasure. If you refuse to pay them then you lose points of RS as described in the relationship section. Hirelings usually have the Money motivation, sometimes have the Adventuring motivation, and rarely have the Alignment or Objective motivations. You can have a hireling even if you don't have the Leadership feat.

 

[CapnZapp]

Sorry, I don't think the 3E solution of tying companions to a feat is a good one.

As a feat, it is massively overpowered. (I mean, to justify a whole new separate character, you'd need to sacrifice your entire paragon suite of powers or something)

And, it gives the player a disproportionate feeling of "ownership". (I took the feat, so I "own" you) Almost as if there is a mystical bond between master and cohort, which really shouldn't be there. It also fosters a feeling where the DM can't remove/kill the cohort without the player feeling "cheated".

It would be much better if the rules simply said "if the DM thinks it's right for the story, and that the players can handle NPCs sharing the spotlight, he's free to add companions to the party."

Not bogging companions down with rules mechanics frees the partnership of any such implicit obligations.

So my view is that it's good for the game that the feat is gone.

Instead, just introduce an NPC if the story warrants it, or if the DM and all players are okay with a cohort.

 

[The Cartographist]

Similar to CapnZapp, I feel that this area of gameplay has no need to be adjudicated by rules and game mechanics. That was one of the supposed reasons for 4E in the first place--replace a rules heavy system with more of a rules lite system. Unless absolutely necessary, social interactions between PCs and NPCs should be role-played, not roll-played.

With that being said, I can understand that there is a certain subset of gamers who will vehemently disagree with me. So, let me see...

The biggest problem that I see is limiting the RS to 20. Based on the rules that you have posted, it would be fairly easy to get to 20. Then what? I also think that if you go higher, the rules for the benefits should go higher than the 20 that you have.

In keeping with the above paragraph, I believe that there should be other benefits to the RS than just the rules that you have outlined. Perhaps, the NPC acts independently in some ways that would be beneficial to the PC. Perhaps he starts to try to recruit others. Perhaps he would willingly sacrifice himself. Perhaps the penalties for bad things happening to him decrease as the RS climbs higher. (I'm thinking as I type in case you couldn't tell...)

 

[the Jester]

Looks like too much complexity for very little gain. I agree that feats are not the best way to handle companions in 3e; I'd use role playing, just good old-fashioned role playing.

 

[CapnZapp]

Addendum: Even if you insist on associating the cohort with a mechanical cost, to be balanced this cost must be way higher than a mere feat, or all characters will want to have one.

Not only was the 3E feat a bad design decision for story reasons, it was a monumentally unbalanced one at that.

In the end, it boils down to either of two scenarios:
1) the mechanical cost is appropriate for such a powerful boon (a complete second character!): I don't think anyone is willing to pay that cost - it would (and should) cripple your primary character!
2) the mechanical cost is way underpriced for the benefit: everybody will want to take it.

The solution to this dilemma is obvious: don't associate cohorts with a mechanical cost!

 

[ghearus]

Here is how I addressed the issue...

Honored Companions

There are some changes documented in this PDF as well...

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

It seems to me that the fundamental issue that needs to be resolved is exactly what DOES the companion do? OK, they are granting you a bonus. But how does this work? Is the companion attached to the party? In that case they WILL logically be embroiled in combat. Monsters are not going to ignore them. Beyond that they are intrinsically in some amount of danger. Certainly if the party loses a fight to a bunch of monsters the companion has to assume he/she/it is the next item on the menu (mmm, a young human, dessert!).

Thus I can't see a way, aside from just 'popping them in and out' to avoid the companion becoming an auxiliary in each encounter. The only other option is that the companion is a 'stay at home' sort of henchman. In that case the whole bonus mechanic starts to become a bit odd. Sure, I can see maybe getting a bit of a bonus somewhere or other because your squire took good care of your armor, etc, but when you've been 5 weeks in the wilderness and he's sitting home that kind of starts to be a bit odd. At that point he really isn't much of a squire, is he? Of course this is a bit of a 'realism objection'.

 

[Smeelbo]

I have not yet studied the OP's proposal in detail, but I often feel the need for a minor companion, usually a "lad," who drives the wagon and watches the animals while the party goes into the dungeon.

Obviously a lot of thought has gone into this proposal. There are some companions already in the game, and I do think the issue of hirelings does need to be addressed. I like the analysis as regards motivations and loyalty, and am sure that can be usefully preserved.

However, I agree that the feat cost is probably not appropriate.

Smeelbo

 

[Alex319]

Interesting comments.

Basically, my design goal was to bring back the 3e idea of a character having an "extra companion" or "helper" that has a relatively minor cost (like a feat). Obviously if you want a full-fledged ally, you just create another character the regular way and ask your DM for permission to use it.

Anyway, what I was trying to do was create companions that weren't useful in combat. The problem is that in an "action economy" based system like D+D, anything that lets you put "extra men on the playing field" is very good, because it gives you more actions every turn. (That's why the Beastmaster needs to use up his own standard action to get his animal companion to attack.) Thus pretty much anything that gets another unit on the playing field is already worth more than a feat.

The RS system was a way to enable players to use their companions for combat in emergencies, while making it a bad idea to do this in general because you lose a lot of RS points by doing so. However, upon further reflection, this is probably an overly complicated way of achieving that effect - a better way to do it is to use an existing mechanic like "once per day."

However, you're right that logically, the companions are going to end up in combat. One way of reducing the combat effectiveness of a companion is to make them like a minion. After one hit, they don't die, but they are taken out of the battle (they run away, play dead, etc.)

I'll have a revised version of the system up within the next couple days.

 

[Smeelbo]

I would appreciate it if you addressed the hiring of low end minions. I think your loyalty/motivation scheme is good.

Thank you,
Smeelbo