The role of cohorts and followers

Cohorts traditionally function as fellow adventurers, and followers function as background characters who выступление tasks to help the PCs behind the scenes. There are plenty of other things for these characters to do, however, such as Помощьing in downВремя activities or kingdom-building. The options below make followers more involved in campaigns, and also provide alternatives for groups that want to enjoy the character interДействие from having cohorts but don’t want more characters in combat.

Contacts: When using the contacts rules on pages 148- 153 of Ultimate Campaign, a cohort or a follower can act as a contact. Followers typically have a Trust score of 3 or 4, whereas a cohort always has a Trust score of 5. Using followers and cohorts as contacts is a Добро way to keep them in the background and away from the direct spotСвет.

Downtime: The downВремя system in Ultimate Campaign already interfaces with the Лидерство черта. A character can Использование followers as labor or organize them into teams, and can appoint a cohort or a notable follower to serve as a manager for her business. See page 80 of Ultimate Campaign for more details.

Heists: Followers can Помощь in overcoming the obstacles of a heist (see pages 118 –129). They can help distract guards, help foil barriers, and even brave hazards. Cohorts can act as if they were additional PCs during the heist, allowing the group to do more to achieve the heist’s goals.

Influence: When using the influence system (see pages 102–117), cohorts can potentially help the party gain influence at a social event, allowing more Открытие or influence checks. A character could also offer the service of her cohorts and followers to curry favor with an organization, and if the organization is the source of these followers or cohorts, the character can gain additional Лидерство bonuses from having high influence (see the Great Renown section on page 130).

Kingdoms: When using the kingdom-building rules from Ultimate Campaign, a cohort—or, in rare cases, an extremely Опытный follower— can serve as a kingdom leader.

Mass Combat: When using the mass combat rules from Ultimate Campaign, cohorts or notable followers can act as Приказers for armies, and a numerous group of like-leveled followers (such as the 1st-level followers at extremely high levels of Лидерство) can combine to form their own army.

Reputation: When using the reputation and fame system from Ultimate Campaign, a character could have her followers or cohort выступление impressive actions to enhance her reputation. Fame also provides a Добро measure of how Знаменитый the character is for the purpose of Лидерство bonuses (see the Great Renown section on page 130).

Social Conflicts: A party engaged in a social Conflict (see pages 166–175) can Использование cohorts or followers as agents to attempt to выступление goals during Бросить Вызовs, potentially increasing the party’s Досягаемость and allowing them to participate in multiple engagements simultaneously. Sneaky, personable, or знаниеable cohorts and followers can Помощь in Открытие Бросить Вызовs or even take on the Бросить Вызовs themselves.

Словесный Duels: A clever PC can stack the deck in her favor by seeding followers into an audience before a словесный duel (see pages 176–181) in an attempt to gain an edge or at least counter negative biases.

 

MONSTROUS ALLIES

Sometimes befriending a monster instead of relying on Сила can lead to a particularly satisfying experience. On the next page is a list of potential monster cohorts, with the sources where those Монстры appear indicated via the following superscript abbreviations: Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 (B2), Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 (B3), Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4 (B4), or Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 5 (B5). Монстры without sources listed are found in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.

On occasion, a monster’s cohort level has been adjusted from previous publications because its abilities have the potential to be extremely Помеха Для Заклинаний. Использование the cohort levels presented here instead of those provided in earlier publications.

 

VARIANT ЛИДЕРСТВО

While the Лидерство черта excels at granting the widest variety of cohorts and followers, there are a number of other ways is which you can introduce Лидерство into your campaign. The following are a few different forms of Лидерство, most of which can be taken at a lower level and then upgraded to the full Лидерство черта at some later point in the campaign, if so desired.

All of the variant черты in this section are optional, and Vile Лидерство is suited only for Зло characters. A player should get her GM’s permission before selecting any of these черты.

 

GROOM

You recruit a профессияal groom to care for your Скакун.

Prerequisite: Character level 4th.

Benefit: This черта is similar to the Лидерство черта, with several exceptions to note. You can attract only a 1st-level cohort (referred to hereafter as a groom) with this черта, and cannot recruit followers of his own. You determine your Лидерство score according to the rules presented in the Лидерство черта (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 129), but your groom is always at least 3 levels lower than your level.

 

 

TABLE 3–2: MONSTROUS COHORTS

 

A groom can take levels in бард, воин, or следопыт. A groom can’t multiclass, though he can take any archetype for which he qualifies.

A groom finds the best place to стабилизирован and conceal your Скакун and the Скакунs of up to f ive allies while you and your allies are elsewhere. A groom adds half his level (minimum 1) to Скрытность checks when concealing himself and any Скакунs that are left in his care. A groom also gains the ability to Разговор С Животными as a superестественная броня ability, but he can Использование this ability only with horses, riding dogs, and other Скакунs of the Сфера Животных type.

If a groom gains enough XP to bring him to 2 levels lower than your level, he doesn’t gain the new level until you gain your next level; until you advance, his XP total remains 1 less than the amount needed to attain the next level.

If you release your groom from service or otherwise lose your groom, you can recruit a new one. At 7th level, you can swap this черта for the Лидерство черта.

 

СВЕТ BEARER

You recruit a torchbearer who joins you on your adventures to help illuminate even the darkest dungeons.

Предпосылки: Character level 4th.

Benefit: This черта is similar to the Лидерство черта, with several exceptions. You can attract only a 1st-level cohort (referred to hereafter as a Свет bearer) with this черта, and can’t recruit followers.

You determine your Лидерство score according to the rules presented in the Лидерство черта, but your Свет bearer is always at least 3 levels lower than your level.

A Свет bearer can take levels in алхимикAPG, воин, or плут. The Свет bearer cannot multiclass, though he can take any archetype for which he qualifies.

The radius of normal and increased illumination shed by whatever alchemical or mundane Свет source the Свет bearer carries increases by 10 feet. He also gains a +4 bonus on all испытания made against an Эффект that would extinguish any nonmagical (including alchemical) Свет source he carries.

If a Свет bearer gains enough XP to bring him to 2 levels lower than your level, he doesn’t gain the new level until you gain your next level; until you advance, his XP total remains 1 less than the amount needed to attain the next level.

If you release your Свет bearer from service or otherwise lose your Свет bearer, you can recruit a new one. At 7th level, you can swap this черта for the Лидерство черта.

 

PAGE

You recruit a page who heralds your approach and has the ability to smooth the path of your diplomatic missions.

Предпосылки: Character level 4th, proficiency with особое оружие.

Benefits: This черта is similar to the Лидерство черта, with several exceptions. You can attract only a 1st-level cohort (referred to hereafter as a page) with this черта, and can’t recruit followers. You determine your Лидерство score according to the rules presented in the Лидерство черта, but your page is always at least 3 levels lower than your level.

A page can take levels in бард, рыцарьAPG, or паладин. She cannot multiclass, though she can take any archetype for which she qualifies.

Whenever a page tries to influence a creature’s attitude by using the Дипломатия skill, she can Использование her total Дипломатия skill bonus or yours. Any improvement of a creature’s attitude toward the page also applies to you.

If a page gains enough XP to bring her to 2 levels lower than your level, she doesn’t gain the new level until you gain your next level; until then, her XP total remains 1 less than the amount needed to attain the next level and she gains no additional XP until you advance in level.

If you release your page from service or otherwise lose your page, you can recruit a new one. At 7th level, you can swap this черта for the Лидерство черта.

 

RECRUITS

Be they students, retainers, new recruits to your order, or neophyte members of your faith, you have access to a Небольшой set of dedicated servants.

Предпосылки: Cha 13, character level 5th.

Benefit: You gain a number of cohorts (as per the Лидерство черта) that represent NPCs you are responsible for instructing and overseeing. You have a number of such cohorts equal to half your character level. Unlike normal cohorts, these recruits must be at least 4 levels lower than your level. Since these recruits must spend most of their Время изучение and gaining experience, only one recruit can Сфера Путешествий with you at a Время (though they all gain experience at the same rate, as those not present are assumed to be изучение and growing independently). Whenever you are in a major town or city, you can exchange the recruit currently accompanying you for a different member of your recruits.

As recruits are busy learning and изучение the basics of their careers, those not traveling with you can’t engage in mundane or magical crafting or Профессия checks. Recruits not traveling with you can, however, serve as managers for your holdings if you are using the downВремя rules (Ultimate Campaign 88). If a recruit dies, you take only a –1 penalty to your Лидерство score.

Special: The Recruits черта counts as the Лидерство черта for purposes of fulfilling Предпосылки. A character cannot have both Лидерство and Recruits. A character with Recruits who later qualifies for Лидерство can exchange this черта for Лидерство immediately upon qualifying (selecting one minor cohort to become a full cohort, while the rest move on).

 

VILE ЛИДЕРСТВО

You rule over your own cabal of minions with a villainous cohort as your lieutenant.

Предпосылки: Any Зло alignment, character level 7th.

Benefits: You can attract a loyal cohort and a number of запугиваниеd followers to assist in your nefarious deeds. This черта is similar to Лидерство, except Vile Лидерство rewards—rather than punishes—leaders with cruel reputations or who cause their followers’ deaths. Once you take this черта, you cannot take the Лидерство черта without retraining your черта selection (Ultimate Campaign 191).

Numerous factors can affect your Vile Лидерство score (which acts as a Лидерство score for the purpose of черты and abilities that rely on a Лидерство score, other than Лидерство itself); work in conjunction with your GM and Использование the tables below to adjust your Vile Лидерство score accordingly. The NPCs you attract must be of a nonДобро alignment.

Vile Лидерство Modifiers: Your reputation (from the point of view of the cohort or follower you are trying to attract) raises or lowers your Vile Лидерство score.