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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
The logistics of the squire
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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 7275114" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>I admit to hating the feat. And I admit that having a small army of hangers-on following the PC's around can be annoying. But I don't disallow the feat for that reason. I disallow it because it tries to take something that is an attribute of the PC's social status and turn it into a simple mechanical benefit. I tend to disallow any feat that can be replicated simply by role-play. Nothing stops a player from hiring retainers, acquiring henchmen, or attracting followers if they have the resources - money, fame, social standing - to do that. Turning it into a feat rubs me wrong.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>You don't bring them into situations where you think they are going to be facing what is for you peer level foes. The hirelings aren't there to help you take on the BBEG, bosses, and mini-bosses. They can generally help against minions and random encounters, at which point they can be useful meat shields and damage dealers, saving resources so that you'll be better prepared in the event of a BBEG. And they can guard the steeds, mules, and so forth while you are down in the dungeon. If you randomly happen on something that is lethal for their CR - say a dragon - their job is to get the baggage and the steeds out of the way and the PC's job is to hold the dragon's attention on them. If they are not capable of surviving even that, they shouldn't be along - they should be back at your stronghold guarding your stuff (and later on, your family). A score of 2nd or 3rd level characters might not be useful in the dungeon, but they can help deter the low level thieves that might otherwise pilfer your town home. Not that that will necessarily stop a RBDM from slaughtering your minions and kidnapping your family when you are down in the dungeon, but that how these serialized stories work anyway, so roll with it.</p><p></p><p>All of this depends on the world and the adventures being constructed in a certain way, a way that I'd gather is increasingly rare as 'scholarly' opinion turns toward plotted 'scenes' and 'bangs' and so forth and away from stories arising naturally as a consequence of interaction with the setting. If every encounter happens as a bang with no physical travel between locations, then yes, what's the point of henchmen that are just going to die anyway.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 7275114, member: 4937"] I admit to hating the feat. And I admit that having a small army of hangers-on following the PC's around can be annoying. But I don't disallow the feat for that reason. I disallow it because it tries to take something that is an attribute of the PC's social status and turn it into a simple mechanical benefit. I tend to disallow any feat that can be replicated simply by role-play. Nothing stops a player from hiring retainers, acquiring henchmen, or attracting followers if they have the resources - money, fame, social standing - to do that. Turning it into a feat rubs me wrong. You don't bring them into situations where you think they are going to be facing what is for you peer level foes. The hirelings aren't there to help you take on the BBEG, bosses, and mini-bosses. They can generally help against minions and random encounters, at which point they can be useful meat shields and damage dealers, saving resources so that you'll be better prepared in the event of a BBEG. And they can guard the steeds, mules, and so forth while you are down in the dungeon. If you randomly happen on something that is lethal for their CR - say a dragon - their job is to get the baggage and the steeds out of the way and the PC's job is to hold the dragon's attention on them. If they are not capable of surviving even that, they shouldn't be along - they should be back at your stronghold guarding your stuff (and later on, your family). A score of 2nd or 3rd level characters might not be useful in the dungeon, but they can help deter the low level thieves that might otherwise pilfer your town home. Not that that will necessarily stop a RBDM from slaughtering your minions and kidnapping your family when you are down in the dungeon, but that how these serialized stories work anyway, so roll with it. All of this depends on the world and the adventures being constructed in a certain way, a way that I'd gather is increasingly rare as 'scholarly' opinion turns toward plotted 'scenes' and 'bangs' and so forth and away from stories arising naturally as a consequence of interaction with the setting. If every encounter happens as a bang with no physical travel between locations, then yes, what's the point of henchmen that are just going to die anyway. [/QUOTE]
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