Leadership

[Scion]

soo... devoted followers cannot be loyal companions? wow..

 

[Capellan]

A character can indeed have multiple cohorts in the course of a campaign ... but they only have them one at a time.

Where the rules on page 104-106 refer to 'cohorts;, they are simply acknowledging that a character can dismiss or lose a cohort, and replace them with another: they are not saying you can have a small army of them following you, all at once.

 

[robberbaron]

I guess I might be amenable for a character to have more than one cohort, as long as their combined levels were the same as for one.

I might think some more about that in case one of my players has that idea.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

A character can indeed have multiple cohorts in the course of a campaign ... but they only have them one at a time.

Where the rules on page 104-106 refer to 'cohorts;, they are simply acknowledging that a character can dismiss or lose a cohort, and replace them with another: they are not saying you can have a small army of them following you, all at once.

This is the way it works, right here. Basically, if your cohort dies, you can have another, without having to buy the feat again. With a high-enough charisma, you can lead several cohorts to their deaths, and still manage to sucker another poor sap in.

But you only get one cohort at any given time.

 

[BSF]

A PC can end up with multiple cohorts. You just need to wait for the first one to die, then you can get a replacement. Of course, your leadership score dropped because you are not known for assuring the safety of your friends.

I wouldn't even entertain the notion of multiple lower level cohorts instead of one higher level. Take my 18th level Bard as an example. With high Cha he can easily get a 16th level cohort. That is a nice little push in party power. But, in the right circumstances for a campaign, it would be nicer to have 2 5th level wizards and a 6th level Sorceror. Think of those fireballs all going off at once. Woot! Sure, they won't last long with a high damage output opponent, but that is what I mean about the right campaign. In the right circumstances, you go from 1 action/round for the PC, to 1 +1/cohort. Ouch.

 

[Felix]

Of course, your leadership score dropped because you are not known for assuring the safety of your friends.

Not exactly; your leadership score drops when you cause the death of a cohort.

Caused the death of a cohort –2*
* Cumulative per cohort killed.

So if you did your best to save the guy, then your leadership score wouldn't fall. But if you held him in front of you to gain a +2 to Reflex saves, then you might have some trouble.

 

[argo]

Not exactly; your leadership score drops when you cause the death of a cohort.

Caused the death of a cohort –2*
* Cumulative per cohort killed.

So if you did your best to save the guy, then your leadership score wouldn't fall. But if you held him in front of you to gain a +2 to Reflex saves, then you might have some trouble.

Well, there is also the neglience issue to deal with ("why don't you walk under that arch with the glyph scribed on it and see what's making all those rumbling noises in the next room") but basically you are correct.

 

[Piratecat]

Monte Cook clarified that those references (in 3.0, although there's no particular reason to assume 3.5 is different) are to taking leadership multiple times. Want a second cohort? Take the feat again. Otherwise, it's just one cohort per feat.

 

[BSF]

Not exactly; your leadership score drops when you cause the death of a cohort.

Caused the death of a cohort –2*
* Cumulative per cohort killed.

So if you did your best to save the guy, then your leadership score wouldn't fall. But if you held him in front of you to gain a +2 to Reflex saves, then you might have some trouble.

Strictly speaking, that's true. Perhaps it is my inner cynic that speaks up since many cohort deaths seem to be thinly veiled "guy in the red shirt used as cannon fodder" type deaths. (Mind you, not all are like that. But some players ...)