OK, so RAW says, you can hire an epic level mercenary for 12gp a day.

[gogogome]

DMG hirelings chart, mercenary leader (warrior 2) 6sp, add 3sp per additional level.

40 * 3sp = 12gp.

So for 12gp a day, a 1st level character can hire a 40th level warrior for 12gp a day.

Umm... what the hell???

If I were to allow higher level mercenaries, what should the level cap be compared to the party's current level?

[AvatarVecna]

And this, ladies and gentleman, is why we don't leave everything up to mindlessly following RAW. There is no 40th level character in existence, PC or NPC, who's gonna follow some wet-behind-the-ears 1st level adventurer's orders for the bank-breaking fortune of 12 gp/day.

[Troacctid]

According to Dungeon Master's Guide II, adventurer hirelings charge ten times their normal fee if they are higher-level than whoever hires them. An adventurer's normal daily fee is typically equal to their character level squared in gp. This means a 40th level warrior would actually charge 16,000 gp per day, which is considerably more than 12.

[Illven]

Can NPC classes even go epic level though. :smallconfused:

[Ortesk]

wanna know what happens when a low level party trys to hire an epic level merc? What wolverine said to xavier in X-men first class. Basically that

[Scorponok]

This is also assuming there is such a thing as a level 40 warrior in the world. In most worlds, probably not. And if they are, they'd have better things to do than make 12gp a day from a 1st level adventurer.

[RoboEmperor]

According to Dungeon Master's Guide II, adventurer hirelings charge ten times their normal fee if they are higher-level than whoever hires them. An adventurer's normal daily fee is typically equal to their character level squared in gp. This means a 40th level warrior would actually charge 16,000 gp per day, which is considerably more than 12.

So wait, a 1st level adventurer can hire an entire party for 10gp a day per adventurer while receiving solo xp?

Anyways the DMG II doesn't apply here, because mercenaries and the warrior class are not adventurers. They are hirelings.

[Troacctid]

So wait, a 1st level adventurer can hire an entire party for 10gp a day per adventurer while receiving solo xp?

Anyways the DMG II doesn't apply here, because mercenaries and the warrior class are not adventurers. They are hirelings.

Adventurers are a type of hireling, but yes, if you're rich enough, you can pay a party of hirelings and still gain solo xp. Note that they'll also probably demand an equal share of treasure.

[Tiri]

Can NPC classes even go epic level though. :smallconfused:

All 20-level and 10-level classes can go epic, and all NPC classes are 20-level, so yes.

[Aquillion]

Remind the PCs that if you're going to use the chart for high-level characters they hire, then anyone who hires them is going to use the same chart.

[ShurikVch]

All 20-level and 10-level classes can go epic, and all NPC classes are 20-level, so yes.Except nobody cared to actually print epic progression for NPC classes, so correct answer is: they can, but they wouldn't
(It's still doesn't exclude multiclassing)

[hamishspence]

Using the standard Epic progression would probably work for statting out an Epic Warrior, Adept, Aristocrat, etc - they don't get any class bonus feats before Epic, so they wouldn't get them after.

Finding characters of this level might be hard - they could be randomly generated when creating a Planar Metropolis though. Even then, they'd probably be level 20-something rather than level 40.

[Mr Adventurer]

A mercenary is someone who fights in battles and wars for you, not an adventurer. Hence the DMG2 rule of x10 for adventuring hirelings, I guess.

Both have a chance of death or injury, but only adventuring has a chance of being dissolved by sudden green slime, or transmuted into a horrid, enslaved, fish-man ;).

This doesn't actually solve the problem, of course...

[Quertus]

IIRC, you can hire a maug for significant less - which is what one of the PCs did to the PC maug in a game I ran.

Also, you don't have to pay your girls hirelings if they are dead (unless they started that way - darn necropolitans).

[MisterKaws]

Can NPC classes even go epic level though. :smallconfused:

The average for a top-level commoner in a metropolis is 22, so yes.

[Troacctid]

Except nobody cared to actually print epic progression for NPC classes, so correct answer is: they can, but they wouldn't
(It's still doesn't exclude multiclassing)

Hirelings are always single-class.

[gadren]

The average for a top-level commoner in a metropolis is 22, so yes.

What is your source on this?

[AvatarVecna]

What is your source on this?

I imagine it's an extrapolation of the rules regarding average city populations by class presented in the DMG; my vague recollection is that you roll to see what your highest level is (with modifiers for each class based on how common it is), and Commoner is...appropriately...pretty common, so they have a big modifier.

[MisterKaws]

What is your source on this?

Top-level commoners have 12+4d4 levels, so minimum of 16, maximum of 28. You get to roll them six times for being in a metropolis, so you're almost guaranteed to have at least one epic-level commoner in every metropolis.

I even made one once: Bob, the high level tavern's bartender. You don't make a mess of Bob's place, you just don't.

[Âmesang]

When I think of "epic commoner," I think of "Farmer" Martin Burns (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Burns).

[hamishspence]

Top-level commoners have 12+4d4 levels, so minimum of 16, maximum of 28. You get to roll them six times for being in a metropolis, so you're almost guaranteed to have at least one epic-level commoner in every metropolis.

And if you're using the Epic Handbook, it's 16+464 4d4 rather than 12+4d4.

[ShurikVch]

16+464480? :smalleek:
At which page is it?!

[hamishspence]

That should have been 4d4 - edited.

Page 113 has the community modifiers. It's roll 4 times for being in a metropolis, roll 6 times for being in a planar metropolis (which has a +20 community modifier).

[Ashtagon]

The DMG also gives the number of NPCs of each level you should expect to find in any given town.

Good luck finding a city big enough to randomly generate an epic-level NPC.

[hamishspence]

It is true that the vast majority of epic level randomly generated NPCs will be commoners - even if the Epic Handbook table replaces the DMG one for this purpose.

Some worlds have more metropolises than others - but it's rare to find more than 2 or 3 cities big enough to qualify as Planar Metropolises on the Material Plane. I think, in Faerun, Waterdeep, and the biggest city in Mulhorand, might qualify.