Henchmen, Hirelings, Faith, and Heresy

Klaus · Mar 30, 2011

Zaran said:
Nice articles. I will use the Hirelings and Henchman article for sure.

Still no mule though!

Use a porter minion as a mule.

Nemesis Destiny · Mar 30, 2011

I've now also read Faith & Heresy, and I have to say, it's pretty impressive as well!

I don't normally like playing divine classes all that much, pantheons don't impress me usually either, and I find the idea of a character embroiled in church hierarchy politics *dreadfully* dull. However, I really enjoyed this article. It presented some ideas about divine characters and divinity in general that I really like.

One thing that had always "bothered" me about most fantasy settings, is that there was no option for a character to be "faithless" without being a god-hater, or considered completely insane for denying something that very obviously exists (at least within the context of a game-world). This article presented an interesting alternative - a viewpoint that doesn't reject the existence of the gods, but rather questions the legitimacy of the authority deities have to wield their power. If you can't deny them, the next best thing would be to consider them undeserving usurpers.

MerricB · Mar 30, 2011

Klaus said:
Use a porter minion as a mule.

I never bother with mules. They're just going to get eaten by the cubes.

Cheers!

I'm A Banana · Mar 30, 2011

The Hirelings/Henchman article was useful, but a little wonky. For Henchmen, they were basically like "Go buy the DMGII!". Hirelings fare a little better, but they're more limited in scope anyway. Still, I liked a lot of the instructions for how one goes about getting these things in the first place, and how they exist in the world. This really helps fill the "Everyone Else" niche that 4e has been (mostly) lacking.

The Faith/Heresy article had some great, compelling stuff. I've been tinkering with an article for the Athar, so it sounds weirdly familiar to me. A lot of what I was dealing with in that article was how to introduce newbs to the concept of D&D-brand "atheism." But now that this article does that, I can focus on good ol' fashioned rabble-rousing "opiate of the masses" stuff that the Athar resonate with so well.

Maltese Changeling · Mar 30, 2011

Klaus said:
Use a porter minion as a mule.

"Festulus! Come here and put these ears on!"

Nahat Anoj · Mar 30, 2011

Badwe said:
I loved the henchman and hirelings article. It does a great job of balancing the desire for more simulationist aspects of gameplay while still trying to keep things at a level of 4e complexity.

I got the same impression.

I didn't like the faith and heresy article quite as much, but it did have some good parts. The main thing I didn't like was the sidebar saying that DMs shouldn't take away divine class powers because it would be unfair. I agree that it would be unfair and that is the "real," behind-the-scenes reason, but IMO the stated reason should because that's not how divine magic works in the D&D world. I'm totally fine with rules being based on good gameplay first, but as much as possible they should be given strong, in-setting explanations.

Having said all that, I liked the discussion about radiant damage, and I liked some of the heresy stuff. The bit about the unification between Iounist and Vecnan faiths was particularly inspiring - it made me start thinking that Vecna could have originally been an adherent of Ioun who was unsatisfied with his faith.

wedgeski · Mar 30, 2011

Hirelings are great, they're going straight into my game as they solve a problem I was having with a soon-to-be-reintroduced PC who has a put-upon servant as a companion. 15g/day does sound a lot for a level 1 spud with a lantern, but I guess it's dangerous being the red shirt amongst a team of heroes!

Maltese Changeling · Mar 30, 2011

I just noticed that the "Pets" section of the "Henchmen and Hirelings" article discusses how a "small, vicious dog" might provide a background benefit of +2 to Intimidate. Love the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay shout-out there!

renau1g · Mar 30, 2011

wedgeski said:
15g/day does sound a lot for a level 1 spud with a lantern, but I guess it's dangerous being the red shirt amongst a team of heroes!

This. If I'm going down into a dungeon filled with vicious monsters, dangerous traps, and fatal flora, I'd like to be compensated well.

I wonder if the lantern light is shaky as the poor lad would be terrified when the mind flayers show up and start eating brains.