What to do with followers?

[Bozidar]

I'm in a campaign where i have an 11th level wizard. We're at a point in the campaign where we're going to go on a 5-year time call, as events of the world come back to a head, and it's time to adventure again.

So Raymi, my elven wizard, is going to attract some followers (11th level, cha 12) after she builds some form of stronghold -- even if it's just a nice house.

But what do i do with them? I thought perhaps i could hire a few experts, skilled in childhood education, and select young students who have an aptitude for magic and were willing to learn. I could then start my own little home-school, from which i would choose my future apprentice.

I thought perhaps i could bring on some peasants to supply food for the school, as long as my land has enough room for cropping.

But i think, given my level and cha, stronghold, and possibly even a modifier for prestiege, i'll have a lot of followers i could attract.

What to do with them? Any ideas out there, that people have been successful with? Is it possible to take one of your followers and train them in a player class, such as wizard?

Please, let me know if you have any ideas, or suggestions. Thanks in advance for your time, and consideration

 

[Emiricol]

Either feed them to the very next monster you encounter, or leave 'em at home

 

[Darrin Drader]

I thought perhaps i could bring on some peasants to supply food for the school. What to do with them? Any ideas out there, that people have been successful with? Is it possible to bake them into a pie?

Please, let me know if you have any ideas, or suggestions. Thanks in advance for your time, and consideration

I hear they're quite good baked into a pie. You also might want to just try BBQing them and then serve them with a stuffed baked potato. Or maybe just grilling them up with onions and a side of fries. Regardless of what you do, spice them up a bit and have some fun with it. Do not let them overcook or they won't taste good at all.

 

[Squire James]

Well, after you hit your 22 Hit Dice limit for animated undead, you adventure until you gain a few levels of pre-3.5e Shadowdancer, and...

Ahem. I guess you're not THAT sort of wizard! OK, my serious answer. Steal shamelessly from Harry Potter. Try to talk the DM and your fellow players into playing a game with students as PC's. Invent at least one school athletic activity that requires magic to participate.

In game terms, most if not all followers will have only NPC class levels. Try for a mix of commoners, experts, warriors, and adepts. Then ask the DM about the possibility of converting your "chosen apprentice's" class levels into PC class levels and taking him/her as a cohort. This might require taking Leadership again, but if you're going to go the "teacher" route you might as well go all the way!

Incidentally, if your Leadership score increases and allows higher-level followers, try to convince the DM that those higher levels resulted from students gaining wizard levels. I don't see why they have to remain pure NPC classes after they enter play.

 

[Kichwas]

With 5 years down time you could consider just having a network of contacts in your favorite locations.

People you can call on and get help from wherever you're likely to travel.

Nothing says your followers have to be stuck in your luggage everywhere you go, or even close at hand with any regularity.

In the right type of game, it might even be handy to have one of them be someone living far away with whom you corrospond -such as a lady in waiting at court in the capital, or an low rank guild wizard back at 'the university'.

 

[RangerWickett]

If you want a school with a magical sport, why not pick Bahly, from Tournaments, Fairs, & Taverns, available in pdf at RPGNow, or in print at your Friendly Local Gaming Store.

I must say, you have one of the better ideas for followers I've heard of. Most people I've heard of just kinda had people hanging around to help them fight, which seems kinda boring.

 

[Tessarael]

Or you could just have them work and take in a percentage of their earnings. Sounds reasonable to me. You provide bed and board and they're loyal to you, you take say 50% of their Profession or Craft earnings. It's not huge, but over 5 years it's not too bad.

 

[Thresher]

Chain em to an anvil or geas and have them churn out uber magic items

 

[Hand of Evil]

I set them up a pool that the players see as contacts and helpful people and allow the PC to pull them from their hat.

Example of this is the party enters the city of East River, where they never have been before, one of the players goes to his pool of unused followers and tells the DM. The DM then lets the player know that Tom Follower lives here running an Inn for the character. The party now has a place to stay and someone to get information from, they put it in their notes and anytime they come here they see Tom.

 

[Bozidar]

With 5 years down time you could consider just having a network of contacts in your favorite locations.

People you can call on and get help from wherever you're likely to travel.

Nothing says your followers have to be stuck in your luggage everywhere you go, or even close at hand with any regularity.

In the right type of game, it might even be handy to have one of them be someone living far away with whom you corrospond -such as a lady in waiting at court in the capital, or an low rank guild wizard back at 'the university'.

well, the problem with them being contacts is this: you're supposed to care for them and support them in some way. It would hardly make a difference to a guild adept if i had a stronghold, if he still had to live in his crummy room back at the guild.

Now, maybe if she slept with him, he'd consider that support..