How much is a cohort worth?

[qwertyu63]

Imagine if you could buy a cohort. How much would be a fair value? Have a few scenarios for context:

-The cohorts ECL is 1.
-The cohorts ECL is half of your ECL.
-The cohorts ECL is 2 less than your ECL.

Any thoughts on the topic of buying cohorts is welcome.

[Flickerdart]

The worth of the cohort would depend on the level of the cohort, not the scaling speed.

2 less than your ECL is extremely powerful - unless you are very high op or low level, a difference of 2 levels isn't very drastic, and now you've got two characters. However, since not all characters are born equal, the exact value depends on the class. A spellcaster would literally be worth more than money, a meldshaper would probably be quantifiable, and fighters would be worth very little (since you then have to spend your own money equipping them).

The others aren't terribly useful, especially as the levels go up.

[nedz]

It's the same question as: How much is a PC worth ?

I don't think that you can answer this question beyond: A dead one is worth their WBL; which kind of misses the point.

[Tommy2255]

A cohort of ECL 1 is hard to price because it becomes less valuable as you progress. Market price would be heavily dependent on the level distribution in the setting, as well as other factors in the setting that would affect the price of slaves (that is what we're talking about, right? Buying people?), such as the political environment and the level of automation done with magic/tech/magitech. A high magic setting would have cheap plebs, but fewer plebs available because more people could afford education or training. A low magic setting needs their plebs for field work, but can't support such a large population, leading to reduced supply and increased demand. The base price for an unskilled laborer would theoretically be 36.5gp*(life expectancy)*(some factor accounting for the opportunity cost of using this money to purchase a person rather than earn interest), and that price would be adjusted by anything that alters supply or demand. Even if you aren't using them for normal slave labor (presumably they're cannon fodder), you'd still have to pay a market price based on the value of their labor.

For ECL = 1/2 PC level, I'd say that it starts to be closer to what we think of as a slave trade in a fictional setting (usually involving gladiatorial combat). Slaves from ECL 1 to 10 is a reasonable range for that. Assuming they have some relevant Profession or Craft skill, they would be worth 1/2 their check in gold per week, meaning on average (10.5+ranks+ability modifier)*52*(life expectancy)*(factor accounting for lost interest). Max skill ranks would usually be level+3=(PC level)/2+3. Ability modifier would typically be 0 or 1, with some having +2 or even rarely +3.

As to what it would be worth to the PC, probably less than market price at low level, but more than market price at higher level. Several plebs can produce almost anything a master craftsman could produce, so people purchased for slave labor wouldn't increase in value linearly as they increased in level. On the other hand, purchasing someone with class levels in order to use them as a meat shield would mean an exponential increase in value as they increased in value.

[nedz]

Actually the cute answer is: What's the price of a Dominate Person Scroll ?