Thread: Loremaster Tip: D&D Campaign Hirelings

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Hirelings are a cool way of giving your players an opportunity to bring in non-combat based NPCs to the game. These NPCs are useful in allowing your players to hire them for mundane tasks. Below is a suggestion for what kinds of NPCs you might allow your players to hire and what associated costs they may incur. These prices assume the PC is providing basic shelter.

Occupation	Daily Cost	Monthly Cost
Porter	1 sp	1 gp
Carpenter	3 sp	2 gp
Leather worker	2 sp	30 sp
Metal Smith	10 sp	10 gp
Farmer	1 sp	1 gp
Mason	4 sp	3 gp
Pack Handler	2 sp	30 sp
Tailor	2 sp	30 sp
Teamster	5 sp	5 gp
Lackey	3 sp	50 sp

Cool idea. I love the idea of having Lackey's, but what I really want are fawning sycophants and boot licks.

Occupation Daily Cost Monthly Cost
Fawning Sycophant 6sp 4gp
Boot lick 1cp 2sp

The question is: what to do with non-combatants during combat?
How quick does your teamster die when the trolls ambush the caravan? Are they human rabble minions, or should they work as familiars (effectively stay out of combat unless you darw them in)?

There is something to say for realism, and there is something to say for not killing the just acquired loyal follower after one-session.

Gomez,
who is curious how the DMG will really deal with companion characters. So far, the previews didn't look so spectacular (nice pic though). Personally, I like the system of allies and dependents that is present in Gurps, though of course much of Gurps is build on stuff like quirks, flaws, and advantages (which does aid in roleplay, if only to give ideas).

Gomez

I'm not sure how they will handle companions, I just tossed this up as means for the non-combat based people who help in the background. Should they ever have to endure combat, I would have them used as low-level minions.

I just recall: One of my characters in Living Greyhawk towed several bodyguards around. The three men were asisgned to her by her lover, Shannus. I didn't have stats, so in 9 times out of ten she lost them somehwre at the start of ana dventure. Ina few acses, hey actually acompanied her (several times into the planes, even). we tend to entirely forget them nce combat erupted - we later devided that they spend the combat aiding (without much effect), miraculously surviving fights they should not be a part of anyway.
Of course, Nesalia didn't mind having them around. She generally dragged one for them in her bed - not for sex, but because she needed someone to lie against (she had nightmares when alone). The guards, over time, grew fond of her, and in the end were more loyal to her than to their original master.
I like to think that, when Nesalia finally left Shannus to study under a silver dargon, they went with her.
Another person that regularly traveled with Nesalia was a sea elf, who acted as a nanny to Nesalia's children. She had three: one from her marriage to a gray elf (a girl later magically aged by her father to adulthood, which drove Nesalia insane), one half-dragon child from Shannus, and one adopted child: a half-dragon child from a friend.
And finally, she had a familiar (a tree frog) and an animal friend (a tressym).
All dependents, some of which actually appeared while she was out adventuring. None ever particpated in combat.

Gomez

Anyone play around with this. It's a good way to start building non-combat encounters and world-building for your players.