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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 8127655" data-attributes="member: 82106">Yeah, and basically, unless you got REALLY lucky, the followers in 1e for a fighter were not a big deal. The BEST you could get was a 'captain' of about 3 levels below you, with a magic weapon, IIRC. That guy would potentially be worthy to join your party. The level 1s and troops and whatnot? I have no idea what they would do for you, other than guard your <s>stronghold</s> loot stash (and not very well at that). They MIGHT be useful in a wargame type campaign, but even then recruiting 2-3 hireling/hencmen wizards would probably produce a better effect on the battlefield, and still be cheaper than upkeep in the long run.Now, HENCHMEN could be pretty useful. But the real conceit there was always that they were really 'reserve PCs' and that was how even Gygax thought of them. It was normal to promote your best henchman to full PC when 'master' died. It was pretty usual to expect to get master's stuff too! Although there were of course players who weren't that obliging. Of course, nothing gave wizards any disadvantage with henchmen. It was all based on CHA and it was perfectly feasible to be a high CHA wizard, especially since DEX and STR were basically worthless to you (as well as WIS) and thus it was quite convenient to drop your 2nd best stat into CHA for good hiring/loyalty/obedience/morale. You wouldn't get the followers, but who cared? You could still build a tower if you wanted.</blockquote>

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