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<blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 733588" data-attributes="member: 2013">I have had one PC take the Leadership Feat.&nbsp; I built the cohort for him.&nbsp; That probably had as much to do with the campaign style (they were itinerant wandering adventurers who hadn't stayed in a single place long enough to make ties and didn't travel with henchmen, so it made no sense for the PC to have someone &quot;familiar&quot; to him suddenly step up into cohort-ship).They had interacted a few times with the local ferryman and his &quot;pet bear.&quot;&nbsp; They had also interacted with a fairly powerful druid who roamed the area.&nbsp; The PC who took the Leadership Feat was a ranger who always wanted to ride a bear instead of a horse.&nbsp; My plot arc called for the death of the ferryman anyway.Solution: The PC's cohort was the bear, who had been the target of an Awaken spell cast by the druid when the druid (who was also friends with the ferryman) found out the ferryman had been killed by a roving band of goblinoids.&nbsp; The player loved it, because the bear was already an established minor character and because there could be some emotional ties (avenging the ferryman) as they tracked the goblinoids.&nbsp; (FWIW, the ferryman's body had been dumped in the river when he was killed, so a raise dead spell was not a viable option - and the PCs didn't have access to greater resuscitory (sp?) magic.)On general principles, I think it's better for storyline to &quot;promote&quot; a minor NPC to cohort status than to simply have the cohort &quot;show up unannounced.&quot;&nbsp; Better literary convention, you know. ;-)See above.&nbsp; Hopefully the cohort is already somewhat introduced with a background - as a minor NPC - by the time the character takes the Leadership Feat.For this reason, I usually try to introduce one or two minor NPCs at each geographical location the PCs visit that are relatively free of &quot;in-character&quot; reasons to stay where they're at.&nbsp; That way, when one of the PCs picks the Leadership Feat, he finds a familiar face that is willing and able to leave what he is doing to join the PC.&nbsp; I &quot;flesh out&quot; the cohorts stats to &quot;PC-level&quot; instead of &quot;necessary stuff to run the NPC and nothing else&quot; at that time.The cohort arrives once the Feat has been selected and the in-game situation allows it.&nbsp; Again, this is a good argument for using a minor NPC whom the PCs are familiar with as a cohort... it feels a little more natural when the PCs &quot;pick them up.&quot;The cohort happens to really respect the PC.&nbsp; I usually allow the cohort to be played as a second character... but I make it clear that if the PC abuses the cohort, it will diminish the cohort's loyalty and as a consequence, I will reclaim control of the cohort.&nbsp; Never had a problem with this though - the PC in question probably treated the cohort better than he treated his own PC.--The Sigil</blockquote>

[QUOTE="The Sigil, post: 733588, member: 2013"] I have had one PC take the Leadership Feat. I built the cohort for him. That probably had as much to do with the campaign style (they were itinerant wandering adventurers who hadn't stayed in a single place long enough to make ties and didn't travel with henchmen, so it made no sense for the PC to have someone "familiar" to him suddenly step up into cohort-ship). They had interacted a few times with the local ferryman and his "pet bear." They had also interacted with a fairly powerful druid who roamed the area. The PC who took the Leadership Feat was a ranger who always wanted to ride a bear instead of a horse. My plot arc called for the death of the ferryman anyway. Solution: The PC's cohort was the bear, who had been the target of an Awaken spell cast by the druid when the druid (who was also friends with the ferryman) found out the ferryman had been killed by a roving band of goblinoids. The player loved it, because the bear was already an established minor character and because there could be some emotional ties (avenging the ferryman) as they tracked the goblinoids. (FWIW, the ferryman's body had been dumped in the river when he was killed, so a raise dead spell was not a viable option - and the PCs didn't have access to greater resuscitory (sp?) magic.) On general principles, I think it's better for storyline to "promote" a minor NPC to cohort status than to simply have the cohort "show up unannounced." Better literary convention, you know. ;-) See above. Hopefully the cohort is already somewhat introduced with a background - as a minor NPC - by the time the character takes the Leadership Feat. For this reason, I usually try to introduce one or two minor NPCs at each geographical location the PCs visit that are relatively free of "in-character" reasons to stay where they're at. That way, when one of the PCs picks the Leadership Feat, he finds a familiar face that is willing and able to leave what he is doing to join the PC. I "flesh out" the cohorts stats to "PC-level" instead of "necessary stuff to run the NPC and nothing else" at that time. The cohort arrives once the Feat has been selected and the in-game situation allows it. Again, this is a good argument for using a minor NPC whom the PCs are familiar with as a cohort... it feels a little more natural when the PCs "pick them up." The cohort happens to really respect the PC. I usually allow the cohort to be played as a second character... but I make it clear that if the PC abuses the cohort, it will diminish the cohort's loyalty and as a consequence, I will reclaim control of the cohort. Never had a problem with this though - the PC in question probably treated the cohort better than he treated his own PC. --The Sigil [/QUOTE]

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