Occasional Cohort

[BettyBlack]

So I have a DM that allows the Leadership feat, but only if the followers and companion do not come with you when you go on quests. So basically, the feat does not give you an extra wizard or fighter in the party, instead it essentially gives you a friendly NPC you can meet up with occasionally for favours. I really like the idea of using this in conjunction with the Landlord feat from the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook.

This would allow you to have a dedicated tracker with his own detective agency, or perhaps an artificer with her own lab and store. With this, you won't need to build a leadership cohort ready for combat, but rather someone who excels outside of combat at something specific. So, I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for this kind of thing? What are some interesting builds and flavour that could benefit from this usage of these feats?

[Saintheart]

The main benefit here is any crafting class, mainly because they have to sit around for weeks on end while building all the sparkly stuff they then sell to you at cut-rate prices :D

Midgard Dwarf is a horrible PC class -- 8 RHD and +4 LA -- but it's not a bad cohort for crafting purposes. Albeit it only comes online when you hit character level 14, it has a few decent crafting feats and it explicitly meets all other prerequisites for [i]any/i] item made using those feats, regardless of required spell, ability, or anything else.

[Uncle Pine]

The main benefit here is any crafting class, mainly because they have to sit around for weeks on end while building all the sparkly stuff they then sell to you at cut-rate prices :D

No, the trick is to build a base and then have all your followers and cohort (and your cohort's followers and cohort, and your cohort's cohort's followers and cohort, etc.) max any Craft or Profession skill and then literally farm gold for you during downtime.

WBL-breaking shenanigans aside, a straight Artificer or Wizard will fit all your equipment needs. If you opt for a Wizard cohort, it can even scry for you when needed combining your ideas of "detective agency" and "lab and store". Basically, have a look at the Items and Equipment section over here (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=399.0) and draw ispiration from there. There's a lot of potential in crafting-focused cohorts: you just have to decide what you are looking for.

Also, what level/class are you?

[BettyBlack]

Also, what level/class are you?

This is my regular group, so in the future it could potentially be any level or class. I may be playing a level 16 sorcerer in an upcoming game that I could apply this idea to easily though.

[BWR]

The way I treat Leadership is the way it probably was intended to be used: when you start finding a permanent abode and building a domain, church, thieves guild or other enterprise, you used to automatically attract a number of followers. With this feat you pick up a bunch of people who are loyal to you and can be used to fill important roles in your domain. Your cohort is a trusted subordinate, like an XO, a chancellor or similar. Two PCs in my games picked up Leadership and in both cases the cohort does much of the day-today running of the realm, especially when the PCs are out on adventures or diplomatic missions. Technically the cohorts could come on adventures (and have in one case) but they have a job to do and the PCs (and players) like to know they have competant and loyal people running their place when they are away.

[OldTrees1]

I use that rule as a DM and also play that way with my Leader characters.

I have done a School of the Dark Arts and a Thieves' Guild.