Leadership

[Menexenus]

A fellow member of the group I play with has taken the Leadership feat (once). Now when I read the description of the Leadership feat in the DMG it seems abundantly clear to me that the Leadership feat grants *a single* cohort and a number of followers. Although it doesn't say this outright, almost every time a cohort is referred to, it is referred to in the singular case (e.g. "a cohort," "the cohort," etc.). Well, my fellow player (for whom I have a great deal of respect) has found two places where the rules refer to multiple cohorts. (I don't have those 2 references handy right now, or I would include them.) He believes this supports his claim that he can have multiple cohorts.

Now, I want to make it clear, that this individual is my friend and a reasonable fellow. He's willing to abide by the consensus here on ENWorld. So if somebody can tell me decisively how many cohorts are permitted by the Leadership feat (and where this rule can be found), we'd both appreciate it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[the Jester]

He gets one cohort. Those references assume you can and do take Leadership multiple times- which, by the RAW, you can't even do!

 

[Scion]

There are other feats from other sources that give cohort or cohort like things though yes?

Even with that though, leadership feats wording definately seems to point to only a single cohort.

Where are these references he has? those would be very nice to see

 

[Liquidsabre]

Dragon Cohort (Draconomicon) & Leadership are the only feats I know off hand that provide cohorts.

 

[heifitz]

On page 104 of the DMG 3.5 under Cohorts, first sentence second paragraph it states that there is no limits to the number of cohorts that can be employed by a character. The text for attracting cohorts and the leadership feat on page 106 goes back and forth between using verbiage that states or implies that one can employ multiple cohorts and referring to the cohort in a singular sense that is seemingly incongruous with this without explicitly contradicting it.

Technically then, the feat allows any number of cohorts but the DM has final say on whether a cohort is available and the details of that cohort, the PC merely tries to attract a cohort and has no control over who shows up for the job (though of course unsuitable canidates can be rejected). From my experience most PCs create their own cohort and submit for DM approval, the DM IMHO only need step in when the PC is misplaying the cohort or otherwise trying to squeeze too much benefit out of the one feat they have spent. Also, cohorts can be a liability, like familiars they can be susceptible to damage or death since they are less powerful, and the PC will likely end up spending a significant portion of his own wealth on equipment and upkeep for the cohort(s).

 

[Felix]

There is a -2 penalty to your leadership score if you have something like an animal companion, mount, familiar, etc... This might be what he's referring to. But no, you cannot take that penalty willingly and get two cohorts, both two levels below what it would have been originally.

And yeah, cohorts are much different from Followers. Followers are those rabble that follow you around with NPC classes. They can help you out with mundane tasks, though like feeding horses and cleaning your castle... but they sure arn't cohorts.

 

[Menexenus]

Dear Jester,

You asked for the references that my friend is using to support his view. The primary one he is basing his interpretation on is the one that Heifitz referenced above. (The others are just places where the rules refer to "cohorts" plural instead of "cohort" singular.) However, the wording that Heifitz refers to seems completely at odds with the rest of the language in the Leadership feat (which seems to indicate a single cohort).

If my friend is right and you can get multiple cohorts with Leadership, what is a reasonable number for the DM to allow?

 

[dcollins]

One cohort, per the table.

 

[Scion]

While I dont have the 3.5 dmg, I do have the srd.

SRD:
LEADERSHIP [GENERAL]
Prerequisite: Character level 6th.
Benefits: Having this feat enables the character to attract loyal companions and devoted followers, subordinates who assist her. See the table below for what sort of cohort and how many followers the character can recruit.
Leadership Modifiers: Several factors can affect a character’s Leadership score, causing it to vary from the base score (character level + Cha modifier). A character’s reputation (from the point of view of the cohort or follower he is trying to attract) raises or lowers his Leadership score:

Cohort Level: The character can attract a cohort of up to this level. Regardless of a character’s Leadership score, he can only recruit a cohort who is two or more levels lower than himself. The cohort should be equipped with gear appropriate for its level. A character can try to attract a cohort of a particular race, class, and alignment. The cohort’s alignment may not be opposed to the leader’s alignment on either the law-vs-chaos or good-vs-evil axis, and the leader takes a Leadership penalty if he recruits a cohort of an alignment different from his own.
Cohorts earn XP as follows:
The cohort does not count as a party member when determining the party’s XP.
Divide the cohort’s level by the level of the PC with whom he or she is associated (the character with the Leadership feat who attracted the cohort).
Multiply this result by the total XP awarded to the PC and add that number of experience points to the cohort’s total.
If a cohort gains enough XP to bring it to a level one lower than the associated PC’s character level, the cohort does not gain the new level—its new XP total is 1 less than the amount needed attain the next level.



I dont see anything about multiple cohorts or even a reference thereof. Where am I missing it at? The first paragraph says cohort, singular. The cohorts paragraph says 'a cohort'.

 

[Felix]

My guess is the "Multiple Cohort" crowd is pointing to

Having this feat enables the character to attract loyal companions and devoted followers...

that to say a character can have multiple cohorts. After all, "devoted followers" applies to Followers, so "loyal companions" must refer to Cohorts.