If you’re walking in on the middle of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeons series, there’s an index here.

Second edition discriminates between hirelings (people you pay to do a job), followers (people who choose to be with you) and henchmen (followers who are effectively low level PCs).

• Hirelings are employed for a task or season for their specific skill, easy to find, replaceable, low loyalty, GM controlled, and PCs are obligated to pay a weekly wage or a fee for a task, meal and board, pay ransom
• Followers are elite soldiers attracted by a stronghold, irreplaceable, moderate loyalty, under GM control and PCs are obligated to pay a weekly wage or a fee for a task, meal and board, pay ransom
• Henchmen are mini unique PCs, best friends with a specific PC, under PC Control and PCs are obligated to pay a portion of treasure, meal and board, pay ransom and bring back from the dead.

Basically, a long-term hireling or follower will develop into a henchman who will join the party or leave. This is a PC replacement mechanism, for the high lethality games second edition was phasing out. The problem is, these followers don’t show up until 9th level, which is effectively when the play pillars are supposed to shift. Basically, this progression appears to be out of step with the new pillars emerging in second edition, and instead is a legacy feature. So, let’s reimagine these “tiers” of PC-adjacent NPCs.

A hireling is any NPC who will do a job for the PC in exchange for a wage or a fee plus room and board. An unskilled hireling is ready to find, and a hireling with rare skill requires a Find Someone downtime action to find.

A follower is any NPC who joins a PC on grounds other than in exchange for a wage or a fee. They can have levels in a class, and are attracted by a PCs fame when the build a stronghold for the follower to stay at at a meagre to comfortable lifestyle.

A lieutenant is any NPC who the PC delegates a task to in the governance of their stronghold in exchange for a significant wage, noble lifestyle and a place of honour in the stronghold. They usually were hirelings or followers, and hence may have class levels or rare skills.

Hirelings fill the first few “funnel” levels, abs are still useful as specialists throughout the game. Followers are companions, comrades-in-arms, disciples or students of well-established heroes. Lieutenants take charge of your affairs in your absence. Clear roles, but they can move between them depending on relationship (which can be tracked by reaction or by downtime clock) and on contract. Stats should be minimal, so there are probably going to be minimal character sheets for each of these NPC types, and NPCs will be “as hireling”.

Hirelings are considered zero-level, and hence have 1d6 HP, ability scores of 10 with one exception (an 8, 12 or 14), and one, two or three proficiencies depending on age (these may be mastery spent on one skill).

Followers have levels in a class, therefore they have a simplified character sheet, based on the PCs. Experience and Encumbrance are simplified, only exceptional ability scores and proficiencies are noted, for example.

NPCs not in the party are documented similarly, and might be Therabond (0-level sage, intelligence 14, north irughai history mastery +2) or Gladhelm (2-level warrior, strength 12, double axe mastery, riverboats).

That covers most of what’s necessary, I think. It reveals a lack of clarity in the interaction mode between the reaction and reputation system and the cultivate relationship downtime action, which I’ll have to revise, and also will need revision when I get more firmly into what it looks like to build a character!

This has been a part of the Advanced Fantasy Dungeon Series! Let me know your thoughts on hirelings, followers and lieutenants, if there are questions left unanswered, whether I’ve overlooked anything glaring, or anything of the sort!

Idle Cartulary

5th May 2022