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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Li Shenron" data-source="post: 1883375" data-attributes="member: 1465">If a player wants to take the Leadership feat in my campaign, I have no problems with it, but I think I'm playing it in a very different way than most of the DMs. I don't feel like I'm house-ruling the feat, because the DMG doesn't explain these 2 issues, I'm just interpreting it differently.1) Cohort control: I don't let the player control the cohort as she was playing a second PC. The cohort is played by the DM. Obviously the nature of the cohort is not the same as any other NPC (see point 2) in regards of his master. The player is still using RPing to handle the cohort. If you want, you can say the cohort behaves more like charmed than dominated.For example, if the PC sends the cohort scouting, I don't tell her what the cohort sees and hear. I have the cohort come back and tell in his own words what he has seen and heard.2) Cohort freedom: I make it very easy for the player to get the cohort do what she wants (as long as is asked in character). In this way, having a cohort is very different from having an NPC friend. The main difference is that a cohort will NOT betray the master. An evil master may completely mistreat her cohort and the cohort will still not leave (exceptions are possible, but they are well within the rules of leadership score!). This is the very benefit of the feat: you are guaranteed that the cohort isn't going away (which is never guaranteed with a NPC) as long as you qualify for it, just as you are guaranteed that any other feat you have isn't going to vanish depending on your actions (except weird non-core stuff like Vows).Don't misunderstand me, the cohort is still an individual with his own will and personality. As any other NPC which you can befriend or hire without the feat. By spending the feat, you buy the guarantee that you were able to choose a friend whose will is not to betray or abandon you. Otherwise anyone without any requirements can befriend someone "for free", she just doesn't get the benefit of safety...</blockquote>

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