11 thoughts on “Hirelings–how do you tell how damage they can endure?”

  1. My understanding of the Hirelings is that, while they are still Hirelings (and not promoted to being characters, such as to replace a PC who died), they are basically a resource. So, a GM might make a hard move to either injure or kill a hireling as a way to use up their resources.

    Most likely this would be preceded by enough foreshadowing that the characters get a chance to protect the Hireling, since you probably care more about them than an extra bundle of arrows, for example.

  3. So if you have a warrior or protector hireling, they die the first time they take damage for you? Seems like, mechanics wise, pointless to waste your money on hiring them.

  4. No need to track that.

    Is another narrative resource.

    They get injured, they soak damage, they prevent damage, they heal, or they die as needed. As fiction demands.

  5. Rules-as-written, hirelings are a resource to be used up. I.e. GM decides if they die or not, following the fiction and their principles.

    I was never a fan of that (or the skills, or how “disposable” the hirelings felt), so I wrote up rules for slightly-more-defined followers. Jason Lutes included them in the Perilous Wilds.

    You can see a close-to-final version of them here: https://plus.google.com/115657313205562994919/posts/5aLHJdopYzh

    If you like that, you can get Perilous Wilds from DriveThruRPG for $8 as PDF.

    https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/156979/The-Perilous-Wilds?

  6. I’d say depends on hard move or soft move. Hard move they could die, or repeated failure they’re dead. Soft they are injured or you have to choose to save them Vs something else ect..

  7. I think you’re misunderstanding the mechanics. Neither Protectors nor Warriors “take damage for you”. They are not a thing the GM points the monsters at, specifically. Instead, they aid in your rolls.

    “Johan, the ogre swings his club at you, what do you do?”

    1. “I have Geld, my hireling protector Intervene… shit, I rolled a 4, +1 from Geld that’s a 5. Ugh” GM: “Geld steps in front of the blow, and you hear a loud crunch as it connects with his face. You can’t tell if he’s dead, but he definitely lost that eye”

    2. “I have Geld, my hireling protector Intervene. Awesome, I rolled an 11, but Intervene won’t let me take the 10+ choice, so 7-9.” GM: “Geld steps forward and blocks the blow with his buckler, but the ogre’s other hand snakes around the shield with a knife towards Geld’s side! What do you do?”

    3. “I sidestep (rolls, DD, succeeds) and call Jarn, my hireling warrior to flank the beast as I attack. I hit and I add Jarn’s damage to mine, for a total of 11”

    Etc etc (note I didn’t have Geld use Sentry on purpose because it DOES have a HP like effect and I wanted to illustrate that a hireling is just a thing you wield)

  9. As in so many things, AW-wise, I would say whatever makes a better story for your game. Personally, I would wound a hireling in a way that it makes it REALLY hard for the party if they keep the hireling with them. If they brave the added peril do do the right thing they have a hireling that is loyal to them for life. If they leave them behind to die they come back as villains! Win win!

  10. Nicholas Hopkins yeah this is awesome. If they have a guy they really like, don’t kill him. Smash his foot or have him lose a hand, and see if they help him. Games are always better if you can threaten things the PCs care about

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