Help me staff a Keep

[Vague Jayhawk]

My Dwarven Cleric of Moradin has just been given a small keep. I wish to turn it into a temple dedicated to the Dwarven Pantheon. I just turned 12th level and had a feat to spend and so I took Leadership.

I am doing this mostly for fun. Whatever personel I choose will not make or break the game. I am mostly doing this for my own amusement. The party is large enough with five players that we really do not need to be dragging NPC's around, but having my cleric be "a leader of men" fits my character concept well.

I have 25 1st level, 3 2nd level and a 3rd level NPC at my disposal as well as an 11th level cohort who will protect the place while I am gone.

I guess my question is what combination of personnel would you choose? What is the best combination of essential personel to keep a home running? Which positions require unwavering loyalty and which can I just hire. If I do this well enough perhaps a town will grow around it. That would be fun.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Heh. Quintessential Cleric covers this quite well. You might want to check it out.

 

[Vague Jayhawk]

Yes, now that you point it out the book does look like it would have the answers that I want.

The thought of my character amassing a congregation is indeed appealing. It fits his Lawful good whoop-ass ways well.

On a side note how would you stat a butler (steward). I am thinking on using one of my 2nd or 3rd level NPC's as a loyal butler to manage the home while I am away adventuring. Would a good butler be an Expert? Is there a profession (butler) skill?

 

[Conaill]

Lisa, Sor1, NG
Scullery Maid

Lisa's mother was an adept, who was burned at the stake as a witch by ignorant peasants. Lisa grew up on the streets, learned not to trust anyone, and to hide her magical talent. She Charmed her way into the castle, hoping find a better life for herself. She's a hard worker, although sometimes she uses Prestidigitation to do her cleaning, when she is sure nobody can see her.

Lisa is a very taciturn girl, suspicious of everyone. She lives in constant fear of being exposed as the daughter of a witch, and keeps some food, a few coins, and a sharp kitchen knife stashed away, in case she needs to get out in a hurry. She also made a point of searching out some of the hidden passages rumored to be in the old keep's walls, using her Detect Secret Doors.

This new lord... people say he is a cleric. Just looks like a fat old dwarf to her. She knows these holy men. Last "holy man" she met had his hands down her trousers before she managed to slit his belly. She left him in the alley, desperately trying to stuff his guts back in.

Well, we'll see about this new lord. Cook seems to really like him though, and Cook's always been good to her. She hopes she won't have to run again...

 

[cybertalus]

On a side note how would you stat a butler (steward). I am thinking on using one of my 2nd or 3rd level NPC's as a loyal butler to manage the home while I am away adventuring. Would a good butler be an Expert? Is there a profession (butler) skill?

Everyone Else has 3.0 stats for a non-noble butler/steward/seneschal at various levels, and goes the Expert route. They also have stats for a noble-born administrator which uses the Aristocrat class.

It's been a while since I read it so I don't recall the specifics, but A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe talks quite a bit about the role and responsibilities of the steward. It doesn't provide any stats, but could probably give you a good idea of what kind of skills a person would need to be a competent steward.

 

[Agent Oracle]

Monks make the best butlers.

One word: Kato.

Nothing like having Bruce lee as your manservant.

 

[Emirikol]

~ the last unicorn

KING HAGGARD: I need no servants.
SCHMENDRICK: Oh, but surely, Sire, a magician, a fine cook, a -
KING HAGGARD: You are losing my interest, and that is very dangerous. My
"court" consists of four men-at-arms.
SCHMENDRICK: Four? But the pleasures of the court, Sire, the music, the
talk, the hunts and the balls and the great feasts -
KING HAGGARD: They are nothing to me. I have known them all, and they
have not made me happy. I will keep nothing near me that does not make
me happy! ...I also keep one magician.
SCHMENDRICK (taken aback): Oh, a magician, huh? What's his name?
KING HAGGARD: He is called Mabruk. He is known in his trade as "the
magician's magician". I can see no reason at all to replace him with some
vagrant, nameless, clownish -
MOLLY GRUE: I can. He doesn't, this marvellous Mabruk, doesn't make you
happy.
SCHMENDRICK: Molly, be still.
KING HAGGARD: And how would you know?
MOLLY GRUE: Well, just look at you!
SCHMENDRICK: Molly! (grabs her to quiet her)
KING HAGGARD: Did you hear that, Mabruk?
(In a haze of smoke, an old man with harsh eyes {VOICE OF PAUL FREES} appears. He wears a
crown and a spangled robe.)
MABRUK: What does your majesty wish of me? Schmendrick, my dear boy,
how nice to see you! (walks over to Schmendrick)
KING HAGGARD: He has come to take your place. He is now my royal
magician.
MOLLY GRUE (whispers to Schmendrick): See?
SCHMENDRICK: (whispers to Molly) Shhh!
MABRUK: The legendary Schmendrick? "The Runeless Wonder?" I realize
your majesty is a great collector of - oddities, but-
KING HAGGARD: The woman is right. A master magician has not made me
happy. I will see what an incompetent one can do. You may go, Mabruk.
MABRUK (very angry look): I am not packed off as easily as that!
(A wind rises in the room. Lír steps in front of Amalthea, hand on his
sword hilt. Amalthea walks past him. The mark on her forehead begins to
glow. The wind dies down, and the only sound left is Mabruk's laughing.)
PRINCE LIR (puts his hand on Mabruk's shoulder): Come on, old man. I'll write you a
reference.
MABRUK: (laughs) Haggard, I would not be you for all the world! You have
let your doom in by the front door, but it will not depart that way!
Farewell, poor Haggard! Farewell... (He laughs and disappears the same
way he appeared.)

 

[Harmon]

Couple random thoughts (hope this helps)-
Grizlin- Fighter8/Noble3- Tired of fighting Griz took his adventuring horde and retired. Now broke he seeks work, finds the son of an old friend and settles in to tend this young servant of Moradin. He’s loyal, considerate, fair, and capable.

Bonly Jonly- bard3-

Bernard- Expert (butler)2- stiff and stern

Mazy- Expert (Maid)2-

Danisk- Expert (Accountant)2- LN

And 25 Men at Arms, Servants, Stable Boys, Maids, Cooks, and such.

 

[Captain NeMo]

How about a Expert 3/Wizard 8 for your cohort? Use the expert levels to give him the skills he'd need to run the place, and the wizard levels will just be handy for spells etc.

 

[drothgery]

If you're building the place as a temple, you'll probably want a priest to run the temple while you're away; depending on how things work in your game, that could mean a low-level cleric, cloistered cleric or achivist (if the DM doesn't think non-adventuring priests should be melee machines, but they should have divine spells), or expert (if most priests aren't actually spellcasters).