Hi all, I have an easy question and hard question. Easy: I can’t find the information on Hirelings in the book – specifically how to use them, not just how to hire them. Can anyone guide me to it? I’m using the .mobi version and it’s hard to ‘flip through.’
Harder question: My players rescued some NPCs unexpectedly and they’ve banded together. I want them to be realistically helpful in the upcoming fights together, but not sure how to run them. Do I run them as the GM? Do the players run them as additional characters? I’d really appreciate any thoughts on this (or, if it’s covered by hirelings, just the Easy part will do it…). Thanks!
Page 36. Very early in the book, easy to miss.
For the hard part I would say either have the NPC’s deal with part of a threat for the PC’s making life a little easier. Even better have a list of the NPC’s by name. If a PC includes the NPC in description of an action they can take a +1, however if the roll isn’t a 10+ the DM can injure/kill/capture/put in danger the NPC as an option for consequences.
You run them according to their instincts and your agenda and principles. They are their to be threatened.
Thanks Peter Johansen , I had been skipping right past that first section. For these particular NPCs, I guess what I’m really asking is can I have them make combat moves such as Hack and Slash, Defend, Volley etc, as though they’re PCs? Or even have the PCs control them? Or do I just control them and say Good News, Lord Derp gut-stabbed the Goblin Chief?
Hirelings don’t make moves, they just have skills. Your warrior hireling will deal damage when he aids in your attack. And they are not controlled by PCs. The GM controls them, the PCs must make loyalty checks when needed.
Most helpful NPCs probably aren’t even hirelings. In which case you just represent them in the fiction and respect their contributions on the narrative level.
For example, fighting a guard might be tricky. Its easier if you have an NPC helping you keep him off balance. Or maybe you ask the NPC helper to go up and keep the guard talking while you wander inside to rifle through his things. NPCs don’t need hireling abilities to influence things — they influence things just by existing and acting like real people in the fiction.
Another thing to try with an experienced group is something similar to Better Angels (where the super villain game where another player is the demon giving players powers), is give the hireling a few personality traits then let another player run their dialogue to give the party more depth & gm less work in non critical times.