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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mannahnin" data-source="post: 9351909" data-attributes="member: 7026594">In the three year old school (mashup of B/X and 5TD) game I concluded last year, hirelings & henchmen were standard and always used.  I generally had 3-4 players in any given session, and as many hirelings (or henchmen, once the PCs were a bit higher level) as PCs would usually be accompanying the party.Dozens of hirelings were killed over the course of the campaign, although as the survivors gained levels and the party gained more healing magic, casualties became less routine. In terms of practical character sheet management, I kept the stats and equipment for each hireling or henchman on an index card, and made a little tableau of them at my DMing station whenever I ran games.  The players didn't have to track them for the most part.  They could give them orders and the NPCs would usually obey (sometimes with some negotiation, sometimes with a Morale or Loyalty check required or they'd refuse).  5 Torches Deep only goes to 9th level and is not really designed for domain play.  If my players and I had been interested, by the end of the campaign the PCs were all 7th or 8th level and thus close to the right level for it if I wanted to import that part of B/X, but after three years I was a bit worn out and had other life demands, so I concluded the campaign after an epic-length adventure (a much expanded version of Castle Amber).</blockquote>