Players in need of extra hands while traveling and who have cr to spare can hire NPCs to accompany them on their journey. Sometimes, NPCs will also travel with the players as part of a quest or when accompanying them as caravan guards. In either case, these types of NPCs are referred to as followers. Followers for hire, if available, will generally congregate in taverns. An out-of-the-way tavern might have at most one or two people willing to travel with the player characters for cr, while taverns that are closer to populated areas such as towns and cities will often have a handful whose availability depends on how much work there is in the surrounding area. On occasion, a larger city or metropolis will also be the home of an adventurer’s guild, which is an organization that recruits and trains mercenaries for hire. If the GM wants to include one of these in their game, they should populate a given adventurer’s headquarters with 2d6 followers for hire.
The cost of hiring a follower is paid out at the beginning of each path that the follower accompanies them on. Once they reach the next settlement, the players may choose to either let that follower go or pay them to continue the journey. If players take a follower into a dungeon or other hostile area, they will have to pay that follower’s salary once per day they spend inside of it. Whether the players can do this will depend on whether the follower is still willing to accompany them, and this is up to the GM to feel out based on the follower’s personality and level of expertise. The cost of hiring a follower in cr is determined by the services they can offer. There are two types of services that followers can render: aid during the travel round, and aid during battle. If followers provide both kinds of services, the total cost of hiring a follower is the sum of the costs of each of these services.
When the GM wants to create a new follower, they should follow along with the step-by-step process below.
Followers capable of helping during combat will have an elemental type, and will specialize in a single job. Their statistics in battle are determined by their job bonuses, their attributes, and what armor and weapon type they carry. Every follower that has a combat specialty can also take the camping action associated with their job, meaning that Strikers can use the Hunt action, Casters can use the Divine action, Healers can use the Mend action, Defenders can use the Watch action, Supports can use the Gather action, and Saboteurs can use the Scout action. When they do so, one of the players should roll a 1d10 and compare the result to whichever of the follower’s attributes corresponds to that action to see if it succeeds. The hiring cost, abilities, and battle inventories of typical followers skilled in combat are listed below.
Strikers specialize in the Striker job, and carry a Physical weapon of the GM’s choice and Heavy armor.
| Template | Salary | Body | Mind | Spirit | AP | Equipment Quality | Accessories | Battle Items | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 100 cr | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Mundane | 1 | 1d4 Mundane | |
| Intermediate | 500 cr | 6 | 4 | 2 | 3 | Rare | 2 | 1d4 Rare | |
| Advanced | 1000 cr | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | Expert | 3 | 1d4 Expert |
Casters specialize in the Caster job, and carry a Magical weapon of the GM’s choice and Light armor.
| Template | Salary | Body | Mind | Spirit | AP | Equipment Quality | Accessories | Battle Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 100 cr | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Mundane | 1 | 1d4 Mundane |
| Intermediate | 500 cr | 2 | 6 | 4 | 3 | Rare | 2 | 1d4 Rare |
| Advanced | 1000 cr | 3 | 9 | 6 | 3 | Expert | 3 | 1d4 Expert |
Healers specialize in the Healer job, and carry a Magical weapon of the GM’s choice and Cloth armor.
| Template | Salary | Body | Mind | Spirit | AP | Equipment Quality | Accessories | Battle Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 500 cr | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Mundane | 1 | 1d4 Mundane |
| Intermediate | 2500 cr | 2 | 4 | 6 | 3 | Rare | 2 | 1d4 Rare |
| Advanced | 5000 cr | 9 | 6 | 3 | 3 | Expert | 3 | 1d4 Expert |
Defenders specialize in the Defender job, and carry a Balanced weapon of the GM’s choice and Heavy armor.
| Template | Salary | Body | Mind | Spirit | AP | Equipment Quality | Accessories | Battle Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 100 cr | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Mundane | 1 | 1d4 Mundane |
| Intermediate | 500 cr | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | Rare | 2 | 1d4 Rare |
| Advanced | 1000 cr | 9 | 3 | 6 | 3 | Expert | 3 | 1d4 Expert |
Supports specialize in the Support job, and carry a Balanced weapon of the GM’s choice and Cloth armor.
| Template | Salary | Body | Mind | Spirit | AP | Equipment Quality | Accessories | Battle Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 250 cr | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Mundane | 1 | 1d4 Mundane |
| Intermediate | 1250 cr | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Rare | 2 | 1d4 Rare |
| Advanced | 2500 cr | 6 | 6 | 6 | 3 | Expert | 3 | 1d4 Expert |
Saboteurs specialize in the Saboteur job, and carry a Physical weapon of the GM’s choice and Light armor.
| Template | Salary | Body | Mind | Spirit | AP | Equipment Quality | Accessories | Battle Items |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | 250 cr | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | Mundane | 1 | 1d4 Mundane |
| Intermediate | 1250 cr | 4 | 2 | 6 | 3 | Rare | 2 | 1d4 Rare |
| Advanced | 2500 cr | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 | Expert | 3 | 1d4 Expert |
The rules for True Death do not apply to followers. Instead, if a follower is downed in battle or killed when the rest of the party is downed, the GM rolls a 1d10. If the result of the roll is equal to or lower than the NPC’s Body attribute, they will revive at 1 HP after the battle is over and sustain an injury. If the result of the roll is greater than the NPC’s Body, the NPC is permanently dead. All loot and XP as a result of battle are distributed to the player characters as normal unless they decide otherwise, as it is customary that the spoils from battle be paid out by a follower’s salary. If an NPC did not participate in the combat encounter and the players are all downed, what happens to them is determined by GM fiat.
During the travel round, Followers will have their own Supplies prepared. Regardless of what their other capabilities are, they can always take the Cook, Shelter, Recover, and Explore actions during the camping phase. If they have sustained an injury, they obey the same rules that the player characters do for recovering from them. Some followers will also have the ability to assist during travel. The price of these skills is outlined below.
Guides are NPCs who can help the players navigate the local wilderness. Hiring a guide allows player characters to reduce the navigation difficulty of a path the guide is willing and able to navigate by an amount depending on how much the navigation difficulty is reduced. Guides that reduce the navigation difficulty of a path by 1 cost 10 cr, reducing it by 3 costs 50 cr, and reducing it by 7 costs 100 cr. GMs should keep in mind that guide services might not always be available, and that guides who cannot defend themselves will be very hesitant to walk into dangerous areas. The cost of hiring a guide is multiplied by 10 per 2 levels of danger rating above 1 to reflect this.
Pack animals are creatures such as horses, donkeys, and mules that can be rented from barns in town and sometimes from farmers in villages that will carry extra goods in case the players need more room. The cost of hiring a pack animal is relative to how much it carries. For each point of additional Carrying Capacity a pack animal can provide, renting it costs an additional 1 cr. Pack animals need to be fed while traveling on the road. To keep a pack animal functional, players must expend 2 additional Supplies during the camping phase to feed it. Players can also purchase a pack animal permanently for 10 cr per amount of additional Carrying Capacity it adds to their inventory. A typical pack animal will have a Carrying Capacity of 1d6 x 10.