Is a Leadership feat based character viable?

[Zenodotus of Ephesus]

Is a Leadership feat based character viable?

Make sure you don't have a DM that likes to nerf player choices. If a DM decides to irretrievably destroy a cohort, that's a feat you'll be sorry to see on your character sheet for, potentially, the next 12 months of in-game time. I had a PC with two that the DM tried to use against me, at first, and when that didn't work out he disintegrated them both. Rather than telling me up front he didn't like players with, essentially, more than one character to run, he decided he wanted to show the whole group what to expect if they chose that feat by making an example of me. I thought it was a bit out of line.

 

[frankthedm]

Make sure you don't have a DM that likes to nerf player choices. If a DM decides to irretrievably destroy a cohort, that's a feat you'll be sorry to see on your character sheet for, potentially, the next 12 months of in-game time. I had a PC with two that the DM tried to use against me, at first, and when that didn't work out he disintegrated them both. Rather than telling me up front he didn't like players with, essentially, more than one character to run, he decided he wanted to show the whole group what to expect if they chose that feat by making an example of me. I thought it was a bit out of line.

Could you give more details? What you describe does happen, but what was the situation in detail?

Did you try the leadership [cohort with leadership] combo? This creates NPCs loyal to the cohort, NOT YOU, who just might have reason to plot against you. Otherwise there is no way to get two cohorts since feats do not stack unless they say they do.[leadership does not].

Did your {PC}party members say things that would have drove them away, logicly causing them to turn against you? This can happen real easy, since may players forget NPCs are living beings in the world and will react badly to insults and plans that recklessly risk thier lives.

Teh DMs i see rarely disintegrate NPCs unless other NPCs are doing the disintegrating.

So did you make any efforts to preserve what you could of the cohorts to Ressurect them or find a wish or miracle for them?

 

[Wolf72]

use the noble npc class, give it some extra money each level (maybe lvl x 100gp) ... give leadership at lvl 6 as a bonus feat, and +1 to leadership score for each level in noble/aristorcrat

my .03 gp

girl (ahem, fiance ... big faux paux, woops fiancee!!! ... wolf in big trouble now) says i gotta go ... later all

 

[Saeviomagy]

Make sure you don't have a DM that likes to nerf player choices. If a DM decides to irretrievably destroy a cohort, that's a feat you'll be sorry to see on your character sheet for, potentially, the next 12 months of in-game time. I had a PC with two that the DM tried to use against me, at first, and when that didn't work out he disintegrated them both. Rather than telling me up front he didn't like players with, essentially, more than one character to run, he decided he wanted to show the whole group what to expect if they chose that feat by making an example of me. I thought it was a bit out of line.

1. Your cohorts don't go against you without being dominated or something. Hirelings might, random NPCs might, but not cohorts
2. When your cohort dies, you get another one. The only thing that might interfere with this is if you told the cohort to die (basically).

 

[blargney the second]

Bards make wonderful candidates to take Leadership. Charisma is a primary stat, and they have no penalty to their leadership score from familiars, mounts, or animal companions. A well-played bard ought to end up with a massive enough reputation to warrant a bonus to their leadership score!

Inspire Courage + Boatloads of followers = Lots of damage. (AND bards are one of the more powerful & fun base classes!)

-blarg

 

[Zenodotus of Ephesus]

Could you give more details?

Not many. It's been a few years and I'm not looking for advice in regard to the situation. I normally DM, have for decades, and I should have jumped ship on this DM when I realized he had a couple of pet players and the rest of us were more like NPCs he didn't want to run himself. Couple that with PCs (none of them) not really being in control of their destiny.

This particular DM was more like a scene writer than a table setter, he had plans of where the PCs would wind up next and that's where they were going no matter what was being done by them. Some players enjoy that style of play but it's not for me. Regarding there being two of them, it was early, early 3.0 days and the language of the feat (often speaking of cohorts in plural) made it seem as if it could be taken more than once. As it turned out, that DM didn't want it taken even once, or so it played out.

Oh, and they were standard cohorts, not dominated or magically influenced, unaccosted by the other PCs, and merely something the DM decided (after the fact) he wanted out of the game. I'd have been quite fine if he had said so up front or took me aside and asked me to take two other feats and allow the cohorts to ride off into the sunset, but neither were proposed by the DM.