Most possible followers at level 6

[Max Caysey]

So, I’m a human with 18 charisma, what is the most amount of followers I could possibly have at level 6, using the feat leadership and WBL?


Cheers!

[ciopo]

What's the shenanigan tolerance?

[LecternOfJasper]

Pretty sure there's an Admirals Hat in Stormwrack that adds 5 to your leadership score. Do that.

[Biggus]

Most of the ways to get extra followers I know of are from feats, which unless you can somehow get them (or Leadership itself) as a bonus feat at level 6 are not available. You can increase your Cha score though:

If UA is in play, Human Paragon level 3: +2 (untyped)

Warchief (MH p.24) level 2: +2 (untyped)

If you're 53 years or older, that's another +2

So, any class with full BAB 1/ Human Paragon 3/ Warchief 2 would get your Cha up to 24.

If your cohort can cast Eagle's Splendor and has the Ability Enhancer feat (DComp p.91) that can increase your Cha by a further +6. Just make sure your followers never see you when you don't have it in effect or half of them will wander off...

Alternatively a Marshal (MH p.11) with the Motivate Charisma aura.


Pretty sure there's an Admirals Hat in Stormwrack that adds 5 to your leadership score. Do that.

It costs 51,000GP, a bit pricey for a 6th-level character. A Circlet of Persuasion should work though.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Can you do a race change to dvati, from the Dragon Compendium? Having two instances of the feat would double your followers, depending on how your DM rules it.

Also, Heroes of Battle has several feats that improve Leadership, including the Extra Followers feat, which doubles the number of followers you get. You'd need to find a way to get it at the same level that you take Leadership, though. Maybe DCFS on one of your other feats?

[Maat Mons]

Spending gold can definitely get you the +2 modifier for “has a stronghold.” It might also be able to get you the +1 modifier for “generosity.”

[Metastachydium]

Most of the ways to get extra followers I know of are from feats, which unless you can somehow get them (or Leadership itself) as a bonus feat at level 6 are not available. You can increase your Cha score though:

If UA is in play, Human Paragon level 3: +2 (untyped)

Warchief (MH p.24) level 2: +2 (untyped)

Ah, Warchief! I love that deliciously demented PrC!


If you're 53 years or older, that's another +2

Can that Faustian pact thingFC2 be done by level 6? That an venerable would give a net +4 here instead.


Spending gold can definitely get you the +2 modifier for “has a stronghold.”

Stronghold? There's no need to own one. By RAW, any non-mobile base of operations does fine. Four simple houses with two rooms each cost a mere 4000 gp.

[Palanan]

Obligatory mention of paying one or more bards to spread tales of your glory, for the additional +2 for "great renown."

[Curbludgeon]

(Please excuse my having forgotten much of 3rd edition: Is there a method by which a human can take orc-only feats?)

Feats like Might Makes Right, Extra Followers, and Undead Leadership become available at 6th along with Leadership. Might Makes Right, when paired with a level of Cancer Mage taken between levels 4-6 and combined with the Festering Anger disease, gets a character to the top of the pre-epic Leadership table with respect to followers. Switching species to orc or half-orc grants easy access to the Orc Warlord prestige class, which multiplies total followers. The 2nd level of the Master class can grant followers pegged to a profession skill, but doesn't become available until 7th character level.

A 9th level Half-Orc Ranger 2/Master 1/Cancer Mage 1/X1/Ranger 3/Master2/Orc Warlord 1/Marshal 1 with flaws and dedication to an elder evil/DCFS, could have 3 pools of followers, with 1 or 2 pegged to arbitrarily high Str, and with some amount subject to doubling and a 150% increase.

A 6th level human could swing a good chunk of that.

[Metastachydium]

Obligatory mention of paying one or more bards to spread tales of your glory, for the additional +2 for "great renown."

No need to pay for it either. Bards make good cohorts.


The 2nd level of the Master class can grant followers pegged to a profession skill, but doesn't become available until 7th character level.

Masters are fun (and although I'm partial to Sage, Professional with its "here, have another cohort" and "take some extra followers too, while at it" is sure nice). I was kind of heartbroken when I realized it's technically 3rd party.

[ShurikVch]

Extra Followers and Might Makes Right are required Leadership and Leadership usually can't be taken before the 6th level. But there are some ways around it:
Commander - Fighter variant from Dragon #310 - got Leadership among their Fighter Bonus Feats, and thus - able to take at 6th level both Leadership and whatever feat with Leadership prerequisite
Despot (Dragon #312) and Enforcer (Dragon #310) - LE and LN variants of Paladin - are both got Leadership as a bonus feat at 5th level. Despot is slightly better, because gets also +1 to Leadership score

So, fluff aside (and ignoring the Festering infinite loop):
Despot 5/Dragon Devotee 1 (gets +2 Cha at the very 1st level; Races of the Dragon)
Feats: Noble Born (Dragon #333; +2 Leadership score), Great Diplomat (Oriental Adventures; +2 Leadership score), Ecclesiarch (Eberron Campaign Setting; +2 Leadership score), Extra Followers (Heroes of Battle; doubles number of all the followers)
Court of Thieves legendary location (Complete Scoundrel): doubles your Cha bonus when calculating leadership score for bards and rogues; 6000 gp

Final calculation:
Class levels: 6
Cha bonus: +(4+1)*2=10
Despot: +1
Ecclesiarch: +2
Great Diplomat: +2
Noble Born: +2
=23

With doubling from the Extra Followers it would be:
1st-level: 180
2nd-level: 18
3rd-level: 10
4th-level: 6
5th-level: 4
6th-level: 2
Total: 220 bards and rogues

Exchanging the Extra Followers for Undead Leadership gives us:
1st-level: 40 alive +135 undead
2nd-level: 4 alive + 13 undead
3rd-level: 2 alive + 7 undead
4th-level: 1 alive + 4 undead
5th-level: 1 alive + 2 undead
6th-level: 2 undead
Total: 211 living and undead bards and rogues

[Biggus]

Extra Followers and Might Makes Right are required Leadership and Leadership usually can't be taken before the 6th level. But there are some ways around it:
Commander - Fighter variant from Dragon #310 - got Leadership among their Fighter Bonus Feats, and thus - able to take at 6th level both Leadership and whatever feat with Leadership prerequisite
Despot (Dragon #312) and Enforcer (Dragon #310) - LE and LN variants of Paladin - are both got Leadership as a bonus feat at 5th level. Despot is slightly better, because gets also +1 to Leadership score (Enforcer gets +1 too, but - for whatever strange reason - it doesn't affect level and number of their cohort and followers. Then what, exactly, it actually affects? Is it a dysfunction?)


Ah nice one, I thought there'd be a way to get it as a bonus feat somewhere but I couldn't find one.