Hiring Helping Hand

Retainers are NPCs that have class levels and associated skills. They are mercenaries and sellswords that will accompany the PCs during any reasonable dungeon-delving activities, including combat. They will not hire on with parties whose average level is lower than their own.

0-level retainers have 1 hp, no talents and special abilities, and need 10 xp to level up.

XP: retainers need double the amount of xp to level up.

Resentment: 2d6 check with modifiers against retainer's resentment if the retainer is exposed to something particularly dangerous, and after each adventure. On failure, the retainer leaves and cannot be re-hired.

Charisma of PC

Charisma score of the PC influences the maximum number of retainers and their initial resentment.

CHA	Max # of retainers	Retainer resentment
3	1	9
4–8	2	8
9–12	3	7
13–17	4	6
18	5	5

Cost

Retainers will usually want a guaranteed fee (per day or per adventure) and a share of treasure recovered. Fee and Share affect resentment checks separately.

Fee	Share	Check bonus
2 SP/day	1⁄4 Share	-2
5 SP/day	1⁄3 Share	-1
1 GP/day	1⁄2 Share	0
5 GP/day	2⁄3 Share	+1
10 GP/day	Full share	+2

Retainer level

Roll 2d6 for retainer level:

Roll	1st lvl PC	2nd lvl PC	3rd lvl PC	4th lvl PC	5th or more lvl PC
2–4	0	0	0	0	0
5–7	0	0	0	0	1
8–9	0	0	0	1	2
10–11	0	0	1	2	3
12	0	1	2	3	4

Applicant Reactions

Once an offer is made, the referee determines the potential retainer’s reaction by rolling 2d6 on the table below, modified as follows:

• Generosity: the same modifier as for resentment.
• Reputation: A penalty of –1 or –2 may be applied if the hiring PC has a bad reputation.

Roll 2d6 for retainer reactions:

Roll	Result
2 or less	Ill will: A –1 penalty applies to further hiring reaction rolls while recruiting in the same town or area.
3–5	Offer refused
6–8	Change offer and roll again
9–11	Offer accepted
12 or more	Offer accepted, -1 resentment