Is a Leadership feat based character viable?

[jones4590]

The title pretty much says it all... I was thinking a character witha maxed out Charisma could

1. Low Levels: Be the front man and diplomat, get cheap equipment, seduce people who have info, etc.
2. Mid: Get the Leadership feat! continue the socialite role
3: Mid-High: well i was thinking that one could take a cleric/wizard as a cohort, and have all the followers be warriors/fighters/ranger/rogues. Arm them all with bows and take them out goblin hunting. Go clean out some wilderness and establish some towns, which shouldnt be hard witha Charisma out the whazoo.

I figure that you could level up all your men/women thru the goblin hunting. then you could use them as modern day squads/platoons work, ranged pretty much hidden combat. You know, hide behind debris and pepper the enemy w/ arrows and the occasional fireball from your cohort. With the towns as a source of income, you could buy your men magic weapons.

However, are followers/cohorts allowed to level up? if so i think this could be great fun. if not, well then im one sad cookie

 

[SteelDraco]

I've had a player in a Rokugan game I ran play a character who needed the Leadership feat to be really useful. He was playing a Courtier/Marshal, and had almost no combat skills of his own - he was the group's most social character, and gave the rest of the group combat benefits from his Marshal levels. He had a yojimbo (bodyguard) cohort who did all his fighting for him. At first, this was a Phoenix clan samurai, who was then reincarnated into a tsuno samurai, who was then replaced by an ex-Kolat psychic warrior. The character worked fine, since he always had something to do, both in-combat and out of it.

As to leveling up cohorts and followers, yes, they do - after a fashion. I believe the DMG rules state that they earn a fraction of the PC's experience. I've always just had them level up based on the master's Leadership score, though - less bookkeeping for me that way. ;-) Either way would probably work fine.

A game centered around someone with a bunch of followers would be a good way to do a one-player, one-GM campaign, but I can't see it working out too well if there are several PCs. At that point, the followers aren't that useful, since they won't be able to do deal with the challenges that the PCs are facing.

 

[Tonguez]

its going to be a very different game experience than usually DnD and that means a DM with a different outlook and willingness to set up situations that let you interact with all those NPCs

I've never played Ars Magica but did download the free copy and it appears that game system is based on 'troupe' play - which is pretty much what your implying

in my own homebrew 'organisation' rules I give the Aristocrat class Leadership at level 1 (and call it influence) and then allow PCs to take Aristocrat levels to determine howm many people they influence in their 'organisation' (influence is then used like Wealth in the Mordern D20 rules)

But anyway to answer your question - yes it is viable and in the right hands could be fun

and yeah go Marshall for your class

 

[Herremann the Wise]

Hi jones4590,

Yes I do think it's viable, however a lot depends upon how your DM rules upon certain issues of the Leadership feat.

Firstly, Cohorts level up as your PC levels up - just follow the formula in the DMG.
Secondly, Followers do not level up. However, as your PC levels up, he or she is able to attract more and more followers of higher and higher level. Note though that most DMs will only allow followers to be of NPC classes - not PC classes.

Perhaps one of the more viable leadership roles is that of a spymaster. Your followers are effectively your spy ring. Note that this is only suitable for certain types of campaigns.

The warrior focused followers of a high level fighter, paladin or ranger that you seem to have mentioned are also good. Note though that followers generally tend to be there for show and story elements.

For example, a paladin I once played (he-that-shall-not-be-named) had incredible visions of a horde of paladin followers coursing through the streets like so many bikies on their Harleys.

Another example is that of my arcane alienist Lucifus Cray - see story hour below for a fun read and further information. He uses the leadership feat to gain himself a harem of beautiful young maidens ranging from the decorous to the exotic to the down right bizarre.
It is all a lot of fun - not overly useful in terms of beating up things but a good look in game never-the-less.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[jones4590]

haha I appreciate the replies, but am still confused as to wether followers may gain experiance. If they can, I do think this would be a fun mode of play.

SteelDraco...wow a cohort with 3 different avatars. what fun! i wish i knew what those classes were, i mean i got the gist, but hey it soudned exicting.

Herremen- I do liek that alienists' sense of fun, however, at least in the beggining, I'm planning more on makign a high Charisma char. a viable force outside of the ballroom. Perhaps aroudn level 20 this character will get his harem, but no not at lvl 11.

Tonguez- I really liek the Aristocrat build you have there, it actualy makes a new viable class. very cool! that may be what i do. Thnk you very much

I will be conducting a thourough reading of the DMG & SRD(acronyms galore!) soon to fidn the truth of the matter, and whether i need to change the rules.

Gracias

 

[Storyteller01]

The OGL Ancients Aristocrat class is based on this (all following info is per this source).

At second level, you can Requisition Entourage, which is mechanically identical to the Leadership feat. The only catch is that the 'cohort' has to be a slave (ie NPC class), warrior, or noble warrior (Classes exclusive to the setting). The rest are slaves.

Your cohort isn't counted as party members when determinig exp rewards. The cohort gains exp by the following formula: (cohort level/aristcrate level) x (exp earned by the Aristocrat). If the cohort gains enough exp to exceed the allowable limit, the cohort only raises to said limit.

Your entourage doesn't level up per say. When you get home after achieving a level, you 'requisition' enough slaves to fill your new limits

Another added bonus to the class: being a leader means having divine ancestory. When you get to higher levels, those that get through your entourage have to face a fear affect every time they attack (refuses to attack or runs scraming, depending on your level). It could be from your demeanor, fear of divine retibution, etc. it's up to your DM.

Of course, they have to KNOW your such a leader (animals are so much fun in this setting...)

 

[Hussar]

but am still confused as to wether followers may gain experiance.

Short answer - No.

Followers do not gain xp. Period. As you gain in level, you leadership score also increases and you gain higher level followers. This could be reflected by increasing the level of existing followers and then gaining lower level ones, but it doesn't have to be that way. Cohorts gain 1/2 of the xp you gain as you adventure. This does not detract from the xp the party gains, it is simply added on to the cohort. Note that cohorts in 3.5 are limited to your level minus two. Any extra xp they gain beyond that is lost.

Is the concept viable? Certainly. Korbach, my current priest of Cuthbert is fully planning on taking the leadership feat at 6th level. His goal is to start his own cult with him at the top. The cult will spread the word of his faith to all and sundry and act as the core of his new branch of the Cuthbert church. Non-priests will be lay brethren, while priests will actively act as, well, priests. It's my hope that I can attract followers, teach them the faith, and then send them out to build temples and shrines and attract parishoners of their own. (Sorry to borrow all the Christian terminology, but, it's the ones that come to mind.) Given enough levels I can set myself up as a high priest of my own sect.

That's his goal anyway.

 

[jones4590]

Thats dissapointing, but I still love th concept. Hussar your plan of spreaing like some plauge across the land is just too much fun, and I like the idea of a fear affect brought about by leaders, as from their "divine" heirtage. That could deifnatly work in backwater parts of most campaign settings, especialy if one brought beads and shiny objects.

 

[Storyteller01]

Thats dissapointing, but I still love th concept. Hussar your plan of spreaing like some plauge across the land is just too much fun, and I like the idea of a fear affect brought about by leaders, as from their "divine" heirtage. That could deifnatly work in backwater parts of most campaign settings, especialy if one brought beads and shiny objects.

Or if you are a child of Zeus, or the Pharoh's son . Personal opinion here, but Egypt and Greece were no hick towns.

Quick question about Hussar's plan: Can cohorts take the Leadership feat? I see a chain reaction of exponential follower growth here.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Quick question about Hussar's plan: Can cohorts take the Leadership feat? I see a chain reaction of exponential follower growth here.

One of my PC's did that. It works okay if you leave your cohorts at home most of the time (but then they gain no levels). And remember that your cohorts' cohorts don't swear fealty to YOU. Which can create divided loyalties.

Which is why none of my PC's now do that.