Hirelings

The players will interact with NPCs often and on occasion might want to hire one to perform a service for them; serve as a guide, take them across the sea, resurrect one of their fallen friends, etc. The mechanical basics and abilities of NPCs will be described here, as will the costs of hiring NPCs, and the services they are willing to perform. Also included below are discussions on loyalty, and the possible repercussions from the continual mistreatment of NPCs.

**Base NPCs**

NPCs may have character levels, creature Hit Dice, or neither. In the case of character levels, you may build them as a player builds a character; using whatever abilities strike your fancy from the ***Basic*** ***Player’s Handbook***. Those with creature Hit Dice may be treated as monsters, as playable species do not have creature Hit Dice. Not all NPCs can or should have class levels, however, which leaves the question of dealing with those who have no hit dice. These will be referred to as base NPCs.

Base NPCs may be of any playable species and form the bulk of society’s inhabitants. They are the farmers, innkeepers, laborers, and many of the nobles. All base NPCs have 2 HP + their V mod, and Health equal to their S (min 1). NPCs of this sort are not proficient with anything except simple weapons, have no skill points, and no feats. Their resistances are all 0 + the relevant modifier, their CB is 0, and they have no MB. Base NPCs may gain skill ranks by spending a year working on a trade or craft; so a lawyer would gain 1 point in Profession: Lawyer for each year they practiced law. The cap for this is +12. Thus NPCs may be competent at certain professions or trades without class levels.

It is often desirable to have the more relevant NPCs have class levels; perhaps the innkeeper is a retired brigand, the lord of the keep won his position through glory in battles as a soldier, or the local banker got her start as a clever wizard. Others, those who fight for a living, such as guards or mercenaries, will often have a single level of soldier. Officers will often have several levels. Nobles are either born into their station, in which case some are foppish, but others strive to work and gain glory, and still others enter the ranks of the nobility through the strength of their sword-arm or the agility of their mind. Thus any campaign setting will have both base NPCs and those with more storied backgrounds; the purpose of base NPCs is to relieve the GM from having to create storied backgrounds for every NPC encountered.

**Hirelings and Costs**

**Descriptions:**

Assassin: Sometimes a party will not want to deal with a problem directly, but they still want it to *go away*. In these circumstances, they might consider hiring an assassin to do the job for them. While this probably should never be the go-to solution for a party, it can be an interesting element to add in a more politically focused game. Indeed, depending on the actions of the party, they might have assassins after them. An assassin will charge per mission, not per day, although a particularly lengthy affair might add a surcharge. Rates can be calculated thus: Assassin level x100 gp + Victim level x100 gp. If the assassin’s level is A, and the Target’s level is T, the chance the assassin will succeed is given by the following formula: A^2/(A^2+T^2+1)

Hiring an assassin is an evil act, generally speaking.

Cavalry, Aerial: As described below in the section on mass combat, aerial cavalry are warriors who fight atop winged steeds. A mercenary company of 20 cavalry and an officer may be hired for a month for the cost of 2000 gp, with the understanding that they will see combat and be allowed a share of the spoils. They must be paid for the full month in such an arrangement, even if all the fighting is done prior to the end of the month. Mercenary forces will expect to be fed, or allowed to forage off the land they are traveling through, which is important to consider if traveling through friendly territory. Mercenary forces expect to be hired for either guard duty, or warfare, and will not join the party in standard adventuring.

Cavalry, Heavy: As described in the section on mass combat, heavy cavalry are heavily armored melee combatants, usually wearing breastplate or better for armor, and armed with lance and sword. A mercenary company of 50 cavalry and an officer may be hired for a month for the cost of 3500 gp, and the same arrangement as all other mercenary forces.

Cavalry, Light: As described in the section on mass combat, light cavalry are lightly armored ranged combatants, although they are armed with sabers and are able to fight in melee if necessary. A mercenary company of 50 cavalry and an officer may be hired for a month for the cost of 2500 gp, and the same arrangement as all other mercenary forces.

Diviner: A diviner is someone who can read oracles; in the flight of birds, the entrails of goats, the cards of a cursed deck, or some other method. They charge 100 gp per reading whether or not the information is helpful. Around 40% of diviners are con-artists, and another 20% are simply bad at it.

Guide: A guide can be hired to lead the players around a city, through a dense forest, through enemy territory, or into any other locale the players are unfamiliar with. The more experienced the guide, and the more dangerous the terrain, the higher the cost.

Infantry, Heavy: As described in the section on mass combat, heavy infantry are heavily armored infantry, usually in chain mail or better, armed with polearms and shields. A mercenary company of 100 infantry and an officer may be hired for a month for the cost of 3000 gp, and the same arrangement as all other mercenary forces.

Infantry, Light: As described in the section on mass combat, light infantry are lightly armored infantry armed with ranged weapons. They are also often armed with short swords, but will avoid melee combat if possible. A company of 100 infantry and an officer may be hired for a month for the cost of 2000 gp, and the same arrangement as all other mercenary forces.

Laborer: Healthy adults, often farmers in the off-season or itinerant workers, will hire themselves out as laborers. They most often work doing construction or helping on large estates with tending to fields or animals. Laborers will not fight for the party.

Messenger: A messenger may be hired to deliver a message for the party, either a sealed envelope, a small package (less than 1 lb in weight), or a brief memorized message. The end goal of the message must be a designated person or organization. The cost per mile is doubled through hostile or notably dangerous territory.

Officer: An officer is necessary to command any group of troops larger than 20, and may command up to 100/officer. An officer usually has 3-5 character levels, and can be hired for the cost of 10 gp/day/lvl. They will not join the party on a standard adventure but will serve as the leader of a band of troops during military action. An officer will usually only command a group of troops of the same sort, but can be persuaded to command other troops. Said troops are less effective in combat than they otherwise would be, as the officer is less experienced in that style of combat.

Porter: A porter may be hired to carry things for the party. They will not fight or go into hazardous situations. The max load a porter is willing to carry for more than an hour is 50 lbs. Heavier loads may be carried for a shorter time.

Sage: A sage is a scholar of esoteric knowledge, often with both a laboratory and a library. They support themselves through alchemical research and advising various lords and nobles. The party may call upon the wisdom of a sage for 100 gp per research question. The more in-depth an answer is required, the longer it will take the sage to reply, with up to a week between question and answer being possible, as the sage consults more and more esoteric tomes. A simple question with a response time of less than an hour would be: What are the standard powers and weaknesses of vampires (DC 20)? A more in-depth question, requiring up to eight hours to answer would be: How can liches be permanently slain (DC 25)? A difficult question requiring a full day to answer would be: How might a mummy be created (DC 30)? A very difficult question requiring up to three days to answer would be: Do regional varieties of vampires have different weaknesses, and where might each variety be located (DC 35)? A truly esoteric question, requiring up to a week to answer would be: What exactly happens if a vampire attempts to infect a wraith with vampirism (2 DC 40 checks)? It is necessary to pay the sage for each day they spend researching the answer to the question. Bribing the sage with fine food or liquor will make them more likely to give the players relevant and related information, as well as improving the chances of future cooperation.

Ship’s Crew: A crewman hired to work a ship operated by the players. A crew of 25 and an experienced officer may be hired for a month for 500 gp. If they are expected to engage in naval combat, the price is increased to 1000 gp for a month. If this does not meet the minimum crew requirements of a ship, further crewmen must be hired at the same rate. Rations must be provided for a ship’s crew. If a rum ration is not provided, the crew is at -10 to loyalty checks.

Siege Engineer: A siege engineer is a professional trained in the construction and operation of siege equipment. A company of 20 such engineers may be hired for a month for 1000 gp, and they will oversee the construction and firing of one artillery unit, described in the mass combat section above. They do not fight except in self-defense while on the battlefield, and are most often used in siege scenarios.

Spellcaster: Spellcasters may be hired on a one-off basis to cast a single spell for the party, usually *Resurrection* or some variant thereof. The party is expected to supply all the necessary material components for such a spell. The cost of the spell on top of that is 100 x MB x spell level. A caster will not sign on with a party to go adventuring. A mercenary company of 20 mages may be hired for one month for a cost of 3000 gp for offensive casters, or 2000 gp for support casters. They take the same arrangement as other mercenary forces.

Spy: A spy may be hired on a mission-by-mission basis, and can be hired to either obtain one specific piece of information (i.e. the plans to a castle) or to make long term observations on a target (i.e. the movements and plans of an opposing army). The base rate is 50 x the level of the spy, with another 50 gp per day, with the price doubled if the mission is considered extremely hazardous. The employer is also expected to provide for reasonable expenses accrued by the spy. The chance of success for a spy’s mission can be calculated using the same method for determining the success of an assassin’s mission.

**Loyalty:**

The loyalty of hirelings towards their employers is based on the following table. It is done by rolling percentiles, adding the relevant modifiers, and seeing where that puts the results. Loyalty should be rolled once per month for long term employment, or if a situation arises which tests the loyalty of the hirelings, such as a bribe attempt, a rout, or a prolonged siege. Failure to maintain the loyalty of subordinates can lead to disastrous consequences, while highly loyal hirelings will go to great lengths for their employers.

Loyalty Check Table:

 Less than 0
 0-10
 11-25
 26-40
 41-59
 60-75
 76-90
 91-100
 More than 100

While the severity of betrayal by hirelings can differ by situation, it is generally not a good thing to have happen. Betrayal can include: actively attacking their employer, joining forces with the enemy, sharing intel with the enemy, stealing from their employer, and actively sabotaging the plans of their employer. This is not an exhaustive list, as betrayal can take many forms, and it is up to the GM to decide how any given employee would pursue revenge for wrongs, perceived or actual. If hirelings fear their employers enough, they will not actively betray them unless there is no risk to doing so, but will instead seek to flee at the first opportunity.

The loyalty roll can be affected by the following table, which weighs the behavior of the employers.

Other actions by employers can affect base loyalty, and not all of them can be listed on this table. Feel free to modify the loyalty results as events warrant.

While it is expected that mercenaries will receive a cut of any plunder captured, giving them a larger share does increase their feelings of loyalty for their employer. It should be remembered though, that mercenaries are just that, and will leave employment if there is no more money to pay them. This table can also be used with other troops commanded by the player, including those they are commanding on the field of battle, along with whatever servants are employed by the player should they choose to run a castle or other estate. Of course, the betrayal of some hirelings is more sorely felt than others, and having an army decide to betray the player in the middle of battle should not be done lightly.

**Services**:

There are people who the players can hire to perform single, one-off tasks for them. As these people will not interact with the players long term, they often are not affected so strongly by things such as loyalty.

Services Table

**Descriptions**:

Bathhouse: Assuming the players don’t want to smell all the time, they may use the services of a bathhouse. Availability depends upon the city, and they can generally only be found in cities.

Bridge Toll: The cost of crossing a bridge. The rate is 5 sp for wagons, and rates will be higher in areas plagued with graft or corruption (or if the guards don’t like the players).

Carriage: A wagon that can hold up to 4 people internally and another 4 on the roof. Pulled by six horses, with a driver. Will not leave civilized territory, or enter active conflict zones.

Gate Toll: The price to enter a walled city, usually only paid by foreigners.

Inn: An establishment where people may stay short or long term, the listed price is for a room. Standard and poor inns also have common rooms which may be stayed in for half the price of a single room. High quality inns offer bath services. There is a 20% chance of bedbugs in a standard inn, and 40% chance in a poor inn.

Palanquin: Covered box carried by four laborers, capable of holding two average sized humans. A palanquin will only travel within a city.

Ship’s Berth: The price to maintain a cabin on a sailing ship. A cabin is capable of holding 4 average sized humans.

Stable: Horses (or other mounts) may be stored in a stable when not being actively used by the players. Cost listed is for a horse, more exotic mounts will require higher prices for upkeep. Inns include the price of stabling horses in the charge for a room.

Other services may be requested by the players, and this list may be used as a guide in determining appropriate pricing for such things.