What is a cohort to you?

[Chronosome]

Hello, all.

I'm wondering...in the metagame, what do you feel is the true player benefit of having a cohort? You know, via the Leadership feat...

What I mean is: Do you think a cohort gained through Leadership should possess pure, unwavering loyalty to the character who took the feat (within the frame of alignment, etc)? Do you think the cohort is more of a "free spirit" with whims and personal plots that may often take him away from his "master"? Or somewhere between?

DMs, how do you run a cohort? How do you make sure a player gets their feat's worth and maintain the integrity of the NPC?

Players, what do you expect from a cohort? Should a cohort always lay down their life for you? Should they even have a personality beyond "As you wish?"

And, of course--Who should run a cohort? Player or DM?

I'd like both the roleplay and "rollplay" perspectives on this, so don't be afraid to speak up. And thanks.

 

[the Jester]

I let the pc run the cohort under most circumstances.

 

[NiTessine]

I would run the cohort as a "DM PC". Gets XP as the characters, uses smart tactics like them, plays as one of the group. He'd be roleplayed as well as possible, of course. Having a cardboard torch-bearer in the dungeon is just a tad boring.

Naturally, he would also be a plot hook vessel. Be it an old acquaintance from the past or casting the decisive vote on whether that old dungeon is really worth examining, he'd be a great help in stringing the PCs along to whatever doom I've plotted.

Oh, and of course, the cohort can always be sacrificed to really drive home the point that this villain is serious. The PC can always get another one.

As for running the cohort... all-DM. The player has already one PC to run and think about. Having the cohort run by the DM gives the screen-monkey a better control over the plot elements of the cohort. It should be remembered, though, that the PCs are the heroes of the story, and the cohort should never hog the spotlight from them. It's up to the party to frag the BBEG. The cohort is just there to keep his Legions of Icky-Badness off their backs.

 

[Mathew_Freeman]

Cohorts are useful back up. They're another person around to help you out in a tight spot. They're extremely good back up spellcasters.

They should have a personality and goals of their own. They should occasionally take centre stage - think of them as being one step below the main cast, one step above being Red Shirted Crew Man #3. And they're great for the DM to hang plot hooks on.

 

[Enkhidu]

As an aside, cohorts are also great as guest-player-of-the-week PC's!

 

[the Jester]

As for running the cohort... all-DM. The player has already one PC to run and think about.

Interesting, the main reason I prefer to let the pcs run their own cohorts is because I have enough to think about as the dm.

 

[Hand of Evil]

A player controlled NPC - someone the player can turn to for help, information, and friendship. As a DM I can't keep track of my NPCs and the players NPCs, all I do is note them down but allow the player to devolop the personality and bond. I run side games with the coharts sometimes.

To me they are loyal to the player for the most part, they have found that something in the PC that keeps them friends and it is only rarly that it is broken.

I have seen a DM that the cohart belongs to the player but is run by another player at the table.

 

[Umbran]

DMs, how do you run a cohort? How do you make sure a player gets their feat's worth and maintain the integrity of the NPC?

That'll depend on the application. Sometimes I'll run the cohort. Sometimes I'd allow the Player to run the cohort. Someties it would be another player. It's basically a question of what works best for the story/game style/group in question.

The cohort's loyalty shouldnot be absolute and unwavering, but neither should the cohort be at direct cross-purposes to the PC. The PC did pay a feat to get the guy, so the basic idea is that the cohort be there to help. His own goals and ambitions, in a metagame sense, must be subservient to his function.

Players, what do you expect from a cohort? Should a cohort always lay down their life for you? Should they even have a personality beyond "As you wish?"

If I play the PC such that the character would lay down his life for the cohort, then I'd hope for the reverse to be true. If as a player I pay less attention or take less care with the cohort's life, I'd expect less loyalty. If I were playing an evil character, I'd expect there always to be half a chance that my cohort would betray me.

That last is for a simple reason - as a player, I want the cohort to not just help tactically. I want the cohort to be part of my story.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

The way I see it, a cohort is Tanto to the PC's Lone Ranger, or Monty to the PC's Mr. Burns or Arthur the Accountant to the PC's The Tick. They are independent and hopefully interesting characters but aren't on the same level as other PCs.

I've never had to deal with a cohort as a DM but in every game I've played where leadership came into play, I've always seen the player allowed to run the cohort--to tell the truth, I've never seen abuse of that even in Living Campaigns. (I've seen some abuse of the rules governing cohort advancement and wealth in living campaigns, but some of that was to make up for other shortcomings of the advancement rules).

 

[orchid blossom]

I too would like a cohort to be part of my story, and not just someone to do what I tell them. One thing that seems to work is to have the player control their cohort during combat, and let the DM control them for roleplay. That way the DM doesn't have extra people to worry over during battles, but can still use the cohort to add plot hooks and surprise the characters now and then with unknown bits of the cohorts past.

Our current DM tries hard to make sure we have a good selection of people to choose from as possible cohorts, and that they're interesting and beneficial to the party. He's also made it clear that a poorly treated or ignored cohort will wander away eventually.

In the end I think it's a joint effort between player and DM. Depending on the campaign, they may be a fully fleshed character, or just numbers on a sheet. Either way is fine, but sign me up for the interesting character.