So I think one of the things that this game falls down is how to handle NPCs and especially Hirelings through play, especially in fights. I also personally didn’t find Followers from Perilous Wilds useful because to me it felt to much GM PC.
So how about a move for it?
When your NPC Ally helps you in a fight Roll +Bond with them. On a 10+ choose 2. On a 7-9 choose one and the GM chooses that they either Hesitate or flinch or they -1 Bond
-They help you with the attack: +1 Forward
-The enemy hesitates or flinches
-They add their power to yours: +1d6 damage when you next deal dmage
Determining Bond: For Hirelings use Loyalty as Bond. For other NPCs start Bond depending on how the character is on board with the group, if its just a guard going on the same missiong its probably only 1 Bond if they are a friend its probably 2
If Bond goes down to -1 then the NPC quits then and there.
What do people think?
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I think this is neat in concept. I like the idea of putting hirelings more squarely in player space.
This is literally already what fighting hirelings do pretty much. Hirelings are, for the most part, move buffs with sass.
I agree with Patrick Schenk that this is already very similar to what the rule book says, only now the players are rolling dice twice for the same move. Once for their Hack and Slash (for example) and another time to see if the hireling aids them, which seems overly complicated to me.
Can you elaborate on what you mean about Perilous Wilds followers? I personally find them much better than hirelings.
Stephen Karnes Maybe it was the way i was playing them but basically I felt I had to decide what they were doing and rolling for them and basically felt like I was being another player getting close to the dreaded gm pc really.
I know i could pawn that off to players but i don’t know seems to be even more complex then what im suggesting here, your basically making two player rolls!
In DW, the GM never rolls dice.
Also, I think you should take a look at the rules for followers from Perilous Wilds again. If your players aren’t using the followers, they either don’t need them in the game, or you need to force their hand somehow by putting the follower in peril or finding something only they can help with. Additionally, the only two moves followers have which require rolling are Order Follower and Do Their Thing, but again, the players roll these, not the GM.
Hope this helps. I’ve used followers a lot, so let me know if you have any questions.
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Stephen Karnes Also I don’t see this being rolled all the time, as ever its when its fictionally appropriate. So maybe at the start you might ask what the npc ally is doing and then you would roll this, and then probably the main focus would be on players with the occasional so what’s the npc doing thrown in.
Usually in my experience players kind of forget the ally is there because they got their own problems to deal with so the gm maybe can control when this gets rolled
If your PCs hired a follower or hireling, they must have done so for a reason. If they forget about them, make them remember why they hired them in the first place. It’s great to ask the players what the hireling is doing, but it’s for them to decide and roll if necessary. I think Followers from Perilous Wilds handles this really well:
GM: The Orc just laid out your wizard, Fighter, what do you do?
Fighter: I’m right behind it, so I swing my axe at it.
GM: Wasn’t your follower right beside you?
Fighter: Oh yeah! We’re both pretty pissed that the Wizard got creamed, so we look at each other with fury in our eyes! She swings high, I swing low.
GM: Awesome!
(The fighter rolls Hack and Slash as normal and adds +1 from the Call for Assistance move for the follower).
Fighter: 11! (The fighter rolls her d10 and the d4 for the follower) 9 Damage!
GM: Oh yeah, it’s dead as crap, set the scene.
Fighter: Me and the follower both swing our axes at the same time, I chop off its head as she chops off its legs, so the Orc lands in three little piles: legs, body, and head.
GM: Gruesome, don’t forget about the other two Orcs…
If you’re just talking about NPCs, they’re part of the scenery. Put them in peril, have them hide or run away, whatever, but no one should be rolling any dice for their moves, because NPCs don’t have moves. If you want to have the barkeep in this scene run up and try to bash one of the Orcs with a pint glass, great, but make it part of the fiction. Now our adventurers have to deal with not just the orcs, but this idiot barkeep trying to play hero.
To bypass all the crunch, I run any Ally or hireling like the Legacy Weapon. They are there be for the PCs to utilize but other than narrative, I keep them only abstractly in the scenes. Maybe they say something quippy or more flavor.
Hirelings and allies become a slog with all the stats and moves, etc.