Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="jgsugden" data-source="post: 1187539" data-attributes="member: 2629">Leadership is specifically subject to DM approval. If you think it will upset the game, don't allow it. Explain why and see if you can figure out a way to keep the players happy without disrupting the balance of the game.By itself, leadership is (by far) the most powerful feat in the game. If only the cohort adventures with the party, it gives the party:1.) An extra set of actions, and2.) The abilities of a PC class 2 levels (usually) behind the PC taking the feat.In effect, this is like:1.) An improved version of 3.0 haste, and2.) Multiclassing and gaining a bunch of levels for free.If you start taking followers with you to use wands, stabilize allies, etc ... you start to get ridiculous benefits for a very small cost.When you consider it under those terms, you need to provide limits on feat to keep it from being outrageous.Here are a few suggestions:1.) Cohorts, even though often controlled by players, are not PCs. Generate them like NPCs. The DMG recommends the elite array for ability scores (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 08). They start with a few weak magic items. Followers should be weaker. I'd suggest the nonelite array from the MM (13, 12, 11, 10, 09, 08).2.) The DM should build these NPCs ... let the PC say what race, class and alignment, but then the DM should select the order of ability scores, the gear, the spells known, personality, etc ... The goal should be to make a fleshed out NPC, not an optimized party aid. The DM should not design the cohort to be like other NPCs. It should *not* be designed to 'screw' the PCs (ie; a kleptomaniac in a LG party, etc ...)3.) Players like to control cohorts, but that doesn't mean they *should* always control cohorts. Make sure the players know that the cohort is not a PC. It is an NPC with a personality of its own. The players need to follow that personality. If they can't, inform them that you'll need to run the cohort. Inform them that even though they might play the cohort perfectly, you might still need to assume control every once in a while.4.) Read pg 104 in the 3.5 DMG regarding cohorts. Cohorts seek out a deal with the PC with leadership. A paladin cohort following a LG cleric might do so out of duty, but most PCs want a cut of the treasure. They may also demand funds up front.5.) Cohorts begin as loyal followers. Mistreated cohorts may become disloyal see pg 104 of the DMG). How do you determine if a cohort has been mistreated? That is up to the DM. I'd suggest that if the cohort felt mistreated, that should suffice. Also, if the cohort is a member of an organization (church, thieve's guild, knighthood, mage's guild, etc ...) that disapproves of the use of the cohort, they might order him to leave his master.6.) Cohorts are subservient. They should always be thought of as having a well defined relationship to their master. For instance, the cohort could be a squire, bodyguard, or a sidekick. Sancho Panza to Don Quixote. Robin to Bataman. A palace guard to a king. If the relationship looks more like Skywalker to Obi-wan Kenobi, you have a problem. The NPC should be primarily concerned with the PC that they serve, not with the party agenda. 7.) Cohorts and followers, as NPCs, should have lives of their own. Family obligations. Social interests. Opinions. History. Your halfing bard cohort might have run afoul of the law in some kingdom. He may have a wife and children that he needs to ee from time to time. He may have agreed to read to the orphans once a month. He may think all humans are racists because they build everything so big. I know a lot of people. There is nobody in my life that doesn't have something about them - an opinion, a character trait, something that happenned in their past - that I need to consider when dealing with them. NPC cohorts should have these issues.Once again, these things should not be done to 'screw' the PC selecting leadership. They should be done to keep the cohort in balance and to treat the cohort like any other NPC. In the end, the leadership feat is still too strong, but a good DM can keep it from breaking the game balance entirely.</blockquote>

Verification