Troll Lord Games

How do you run henchmen? Do you even use them? For the longest time, I tried not to use 'em. Just figured I could adjust encounter accordingly, but recently, we had a player drop and where the characters are, it made more sense to replce the missing PC with a couple of henchmen. Seemed to work out out. Came dang close to a TPK, but thanks to the extra damage being absorbed by the hendmen, not to mention perhaps tad extra damage, the party survived.

So, how to you proceed with henchmen? What leve are your henchmen normally compared to the party? Do you allow the party to "outfit" them? Do you allow them to be given magic/masterwork items? Do they progress in level somehow? Just curious how some of you run this (and will be peeking that CKG as well to see what I can gleen from there).

Right now, the part just hit 4th level. The henchmen are basically 2HD "warriors". Hide armor + shield. Battle axes. one has a STR +1 bonus, the other a CON +1 bonus. One has 15HP the other 20. And that's it. No special class features, no advantages, no fates point, ect, etc.

Lobo316 wrote:
So, how to you proceed with henchmen?

I GM right now so I don't do anything per se. It is up to the players if they want to use them. So far no one has.

When i used to Dm back in the day, I used to have the henchmen/hirelings demand fair treatment, pay, etc. if they PCs didn't give them the tools they needed to do the job in reasonable safety, they'd lose morale, and if it got low enough, they'd quit. I probably got ideas from the DMG and Dragon mag, but can't recall for sure. In retrospect, if one were to panic in a dungeon and run off screaming in a random direction, that could be cool...

I remember getting annoyed that there were even more characters to deal with (we used to play in large groups, and occasionally, I'd let people run two characters), so I would often slaughter henchmen with fireballs, tar pits, huge boulders a la Indiana Jones... once 1/4 of them were killed, another 1/4 would quit, etc. I suppose that's technically lazy DMing, but whatever.

I mean, they are people, so they will speak up if they're not treated well, and they'll be loyal if they are. I've also DMed NPCs who were close friends of the PCs (one was a PC I played in a game one of my players DMed).

Hope that helped a little.

I use The Thrall from Knockspell #1. It's an incredibly light way to have a bunch of 0-level helpers accompany the party. They're so down and out that they have to be outfitted in order for them to go along. That also explains why they're willing to risk their neck for coin. When one of them bites the dust, it can be a powerful role-play moment, but the impact on GM load is almost negligible.

We've had thrall grow over time into 1st level+ characters. Their class mostly depends on their role in the game and which PC they assisted the most.

http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/matthew- ... 68559.html

Only one I am doing Henchmen for right now is the Knight, and for that I use the 1E AD&D rules for the Cavalier as presented in the original Unearthed Arcana.

What level are your henchmen compared to the rest of the party? Equal? A level or two lower?

Lobo316 wrote:What level are your henchmen compared to the rest of the party? Equal? A level or two lower?

The charts in UA spell all that out. I think his highest level, as a 10th level character himself, is a 5th level "Commander" type.

Treebore wrote:

Lobo316 wrote:What level are your henchmen compared to the rest of the party? Equal? A level or two lower?

The charts in UA spell all that out. I think his highest level, as a 10th level character himself, is a 5th level "Commander" type.

Thanks Tree. I still need to look at the info the CKG as well. I know there's info in there, just have not had a chance to peek.

I'm re-instating Henchmen for our upcoming campaign. I'm basing the rules off of Basic D&D, for morale (converted to d20), number of henchmen, etc.

Henchmen will be starting off at 1-3rd level, and not be of an equal or higher level than the PC's (otherwise, he'd hire the PCs to be HIS henchmen). Henchmen gain XP at 50% rate, and negotiate pay and benefits (50gp per level per month and a half share of treasure is standard).

Morale is checked after each adventure, or during a completely out-classed encounter. PC's can increase morale (up to +5) with better benefits. Worse treatment, pay, or benefits will lower morale (up to -5).

Standard Morale for a henchmen is 10, + (2xCha mod).

I pretty much use this.

http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields/

There is a minion hiring vendor in my sandbox. Basically if the players don't return the minion in the condition it was acquired in the costs for hirelings will increase, at a certain point the vendor will stop letting a careless PC recruit any more minions. I think of it like a temp agency, but with more stabbing.

SaveVsFail wrote:I pretty much use this.

http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields/

There is a minion hiring vendor in my sandbox. Basically if the players don't return the minion in the condition it was acquired in the costs for hirelings will increase, at a certain point the vendor will stop letting a careless PC recruit any more minions. I think of it like a temp agency, but with more stabbing.

That is a neat website.

For me, I have a kind of default "recruitment" center. Since all my buds are mostly old school Star Trek fans, the hirelings are all part of the Red Shirts, Inc. group.

Usually, henchman/hirelings are only needed at lower levels, so most of them are 0-lvl men-at-arms. I usually outfit them with either leather armor or ring mail. They often carry spears and short swords. The point is to have them there to soak up damage and keep the PCs from getting overwhelmed. I often demand the Red Shirts get 1/10 of all coinage to be divided amongst them or their organization if the individual hireling gets killed, which is fairly common.

SaveVsFail wrote:I pretty much use this.

http://www.barrowmaze.com/meatshields/

There is a minion hiring vendor in my sandbox. Basically if the players don't return the minion in the condition it was acquired in the costs for hirelings will increase, at a certain point the vendor will stop letting a careless PC recruit any more minions. I think of it like a temp agency, but with more stabbing.

That site is really neat! Granted, most useful only at the lower levels, but then, that's where the help is usually needed.