Help with followers

[Benejeseret]

I am looking for suggestion as to how to use my followers.


I am ECL 3, a Hellborn Hexblade lvl2, with the Fire-souled Template and the Noble Born Feat along with 24 charisma. So I have leadership level 11. Basically I relented upon being doomed to hell to my god (a fire diety) and was brought back to raise an force capable of overthrowing my corrupt noble family (rulers of a nearby nation). We are hoping our game last for a long time (high levels or towards epic).

This means 6 npc classed lvl 1 followers right now.


1. We have allot of PC's and I do not want to slow down combat and thus they will not be in combat or following me.

2. I will eventually be raising an army and going to war...but that will be in much later levels once I have hundreds of followers. For now I would like to center on establishing a base, raising funds, and basically founding my eventual empire.

3. My cohort (once I get one) will also stay with the followers rather than following me around and will likely be a Artificer, supplying goods to the party.


So what is the most effective use of my followers to start laying the work towards my eventual empire?

[BRC]

Firstly, you can't get leadership until level 6. Secondly if you don't want your cohorts in combat with you ( which is a good idea until you have enough of them to be an army that the DM can plan adventures around using) I'd suggjest making them experts to craft stuff/know stuff for you. essentially use them as skill reseviours. Give one of them high charisma and lots of ranks in Gather Information, he can scout out towns for you. One with lots of ranks in knowledge Arcania can help identify those runes for you if you do a decent job sketching them out for him, ect ect.

[tyckspoon]

Put them to work making money for you. Leadership alone does not make for an army; at best it provides a solid core of people who are highly loyal to you. For a proper army, you need money.. so get a start on that. Make them Experts and have them make weapons and armor to sell and to outfit your eventual army, or maybe make them Adepts to satisfy that weird spellcasting requirement on Craft (Alchemy) and have them start pumping out thunderstones, tanglefoot bags, and other alchemical toys. Those sell well and are always useful to have around as well; imagine the army that precedes its charge by slinging hundreds of thunderstones, or that softens up the enemy by throwing vials of acid and fire into the enemy formation. Being adepts would also make these starting followers more useful when you do have an army; you can give them scrolls and wands to use on the battlefield.

And if you don't mind being kind of mercenary about it, a gang of adepts could make good money going around and selling created water to drought-stricken places.. although any place that really needs it probably has some reason their own clerics haven't already done it, which might make it unsafe for your followers to go there.

[Benejeseret]

Actually, I can get leadership...at ECL 2

Fire-souled template <==


But yes, I was thinking expert or adept. I guess what I am really getting at is strategy and planning. What is the most effective way to USE an expert or adept to eventually prepare/fund an army?

My first thought was => sell crafting/proffession to make a few buck
- but this would net very little gold per week

Second thought was => start crafting a house/tower/keep for the eventual army
- but once I worked out the math a lvl 1 could barely make 20-40g with of crafting a week (so by the time even large groups make a keep I'm an old man or just got a wizard to make it)

Third thought was => make them all adepts and have them sell their services around town.
- As a lvl 1 adept that is 3 lvl0 spells for 5g each and 1 lvl1 at 10g to make 25g a day. This would net in 150g a day with only 6 adepts.
- This is my fav so far as they could use that lvl 1 spell to heal the party if we are around and need it as well.

[JackMage666]

Well, you don't get a Co-hort, FYI, since he has to be 2 levels lower than you - You being Level 2 (Character Level matters, not ECL with Leadership), he'd be Level, so it's no possible.

What is the Fire-Souled Template, by the way. I've never heard of it.

[Benejeseret]

Fire-Souled
(a creature who receives a ritual that fills it with zeal, allowing it to inspire and
lead, plus the ability to ‘short-circuit’ other creature’s Charisma-based attacks)
(DR314 p23)

As well as +4 cha and the fire subtype and some minor spell-like abilities for a +1 level adjustment.

Combined with Hellbred +2 cha makes a good +6 Cha bonus.


I am awaiting lvl 3 (ECL4) for my lvl 1 cohort but that is a good few sessions away until we level again.

I am trying to convince my DM to make leadership ECL dependent rather than class level dependent. This is as much for the followers as for the cohort...in that technically I could find dragons with 1 level in expert and have 6 of them as followers....well....I could in theory.

[JackMage666]

I am awaiting lvl 3 (ECL4) for my lvl 1 cohort but that is a good few sessions away until we level again.

I am trying to convince my DM to make leadership ECL dependent rather than class level dependent. This is as much for the followers as for the cohort...in that technically I could find dragons with 1 level in expert and have 6 of them as followers....well....I could in theory.

No. No you couldn't. Since HD is added in for Character Level, the Dragons Character level would be too high. Plus, he adds his LA for his Cohort Level. Even a wyrmling dragon is something like a 5th level Cohort.

And what book is DR? I've not heard that abbreviation before.

[Benejeseret]

D'uh....sorry, ya, of course...HD.

None the less, races with level adjustments then.

DR = dragon magazine issue 314
((or, Crystal Keep's DnD Template Index))

[JackMage666]

No, not races with LA either. You can't get a 11 Ghost Followers, because that would be broken. Technically, they'd only have 1 HD, but they'd be ECL 6. It wouldn't be right to let an ECL player command 11 ECL 6 followers.

EDIT - Looked at the Template. It's awfully cheesy. I can't believe you got your DM to accept this as a +1 LA, since it looks to be +2 AT LEAST, but more like +3.

[Nebo_]

I am trying to convince my DM to make leadership ECL dependent rather than class level dependent. This is as much for the followers as for the cohort...in that technically I could find dragons with 1 level in expert and have 6 of them as followers....well....I could in theory.

This amounts to: "I want to be more powerful. The rules should be changed so I can ignore the completely reasonable restrictions."

The rules are there for a reason. Suck it up.

[dyslexicfaser]

I wouldn't say it's particularly unreasonable.

[tyckspoon]

EDIT - Looked at the Template. It's awfully cheesy. I can't believe you got your DM to accept this as a +1 LA, since it looks to be +2 AT LEAST, but more like +3.

It's supposed to be +3, yes. Crystalkeep needs some editing in places.

[Benejeseret]

Fire-Souled is +3 LA in the actual Dragon Magazine article? Does anyone have access to the article? I will admit my group usually just goes on the indexes

JackMage666 - That's exactly my point, having followers of any ECL would and is broken....but that is how the feat is written. It only accounts for character level and not ECL. I do not want this, and only want meager, little, weak ECL 1 followers. Likewise the cohort should be on ECL rather than character level (still capped at 2 below my ECL).

But then if we take cohort and followers at ECL, this limits them to what they should be and avoids LA cheese. BUT...likewise my ECL should determine where we all fall on the table.

Basically, according to the table RAW, Drow are terrible leaders who are always 2 rows lower than a non-LA race of equal ECl. This means their cohort must always be -4 to their ECL to be -2 to their level (not -2 compared to say a human with a cohort at the same ECL as the drow). This is what I am trying to change.

None the less.....my followers please??