"Man-Friday" hireling

[Thurbane]

At last week's game, our group (party = 3x PCs and 1x NPC, 3rd level) discovered that it was hard work covering our "guard duty" shifts, especially with 2 casters needing a good night's sleep to recover spells.

We also have the problem of having to leave our horses "hidden" outside while we explore dungeons. We've already almost had them stolen once (my raven familiar alerted us in time).

I came upon the idea of hiring on a dogsbody/teamster type NPC for our party - someone to pull a shift on guard duty, keep an eye on the horses, help wrangle heavy treasure loads etc. But he won't be a combatant.

I was thinking along the lines of a 1st or 2nd level warrior, or maybe expert. My group is a little divided - half of us think it's a good idea, half think it's bonkers. So has anyone else tried anything like this? I'm not exactly looking for a cohort, just a general hand to help us with non-combat related duties...

 

[Rallek]

In the rare instances that I get to be a player, I always hire non-combatant help. Depending on the campaign setting, I try to get something like a peasant family or the like. The cities are full of almost starving laborers and their families, and the countryside generally has a dirt farmer or two who is going/about to go under. The family is generally a good value, the wife can generally cook better than the PCs, the husband can tend the mounts and help with fetching and carrying, and the children can polish weapons and armors. Pay them 50 gold a month, and they think you're the best thing since... well, ever.



Of course after you level a few times, you may have to hire some men-at-arms to look out for your servants, as the threats are getting more dangerous. Then again, by that time a handful of 3rd level fighters who just watch your stuff is cheap enough due to the adventurer economy. Then you can take your loyal family of hirelings and send them off with a couple hundred gold pieces to establish themselves elsewhere... or keep them. Make the husband and wife into the chief servants for your manor/stronghold, and the children become apprenticed to whatever PC could use a protege, or go into training as something useful.


Then again, my group likes to establish ourselves by doing things like building a stronghold, getting land grants, forming/supporting guilds and/or communities, extending our political power, and so on, so maybe this is more viable in our games than most. Speaking personally, this approach can be a lot of fun.


YMMV, of course.

 

[Gilladian]

In the last campaign I ran, my PCs rescued two boys who were slaves and took them on as "torchbearers". They didn't do a huge amount of dungeoneering, so mostly the boys were there to tend gear, cook, help with watches, etc...

It was also very necessary for them to have the boys around for social status reasons when they were in town. It worked very well for a long time, but as the PCs got closer to 7-8th level, they began running into monsters that could wipe the boys off the face of the planet without even trying. They met a couple of hill giants once. One boy was hit by a flying rock. Raise Dead time!

After that the boys stayed home at the manor house (with the several dozen other escaped slaves the PCs were sheltering) and some mid-level warriors were hired.

The boys were an excellent vehicle for roleplay, they gave the PCs built-in innocents to protect, etc... I'd do it again if my PC's decided to "adopt" in a heartbeat.

 

[Piratecat]

My PC in Sagiro's game has a torchbearer (whenever the party lets him), and the group has a butler who stays at home. I love the idea of a Man Friday.

 

[the Jester]

I love having npc non-combatant assistants- porters, torchbearers, etc. However, you really need to watch out for area attacks- one of the parties that I run recently had a whole troop of peasants in tow, and a gang of destrachans pretty well wiped them out.

 

[Jubilee]

It would depend on the GM. One of our GMs would use it to screw us over in any way he could - they would steal our stuff, steal our horses, stab us in our sleep, turn out to be dopplegangers, or sell our secrets to our enemies. So in that game, we'd never bother to hire anyone.

In one game we do have a goblin we picked up around 6th lvl and we're now 16th. He's the only survivor of a gang of goblins and orcs who attacked us during a winter incursion. We initially kept him alive to question him, then we didn't want to free him because we were afraid he'd give away our position (we were scouting the area), and then a couple of us wouldn't let the rest kill him. He's sorta been adopted as my Paladin's squire/student. I think he's probably the most powerful goblin the realms has ever seen now.. However, the GM usually forgets to have him do anything in combat, so we always assume he's keeping the horses in line. Sometimes he loots stuff we neglect to loot, although he doesn't always tell me..

In another game, there's a PC who is carting around his wife and 5 year old daughter (he spent a few months in the fey realm and came back 5 years older). Luckily, the GM doesn't ambush us in camp with fireballs, and the NPCs are always assumed to hang far enough back they never get targetted in combat.. And one time with the PC player was not at the game but would have died when another player was running him, the wife saved him with a cure everything potion we didn't know she had.

/ali