Followers?

[Metroknight]

Why would a necromancer get a negative modifier? They can attract followers that are of their life style. They might be able to attract certain semi-intelligent or intelligent undead, followers of a death cult, other necromancers wannabes, maybe even low level demons or devils.

[SmootRK]

Just ideas...

Necromancers already get numbers of creatures (undead) created to follow. They would likely go for just a few (with top end HD) rather than masses. Thinking like Dr. Frankenstein just had a few associates (and IGOR), because what he was doing and his manner did not lend well to masses... even the town came out with torches and pitchforks when they figured out what he was doing.

Of course, subject to other interpretations. Mainly I would want to mostly consider how the main core classes with perhaps a little attention to the major alts of Ranger, Paladin, Druid, Knight, which would be most well known to have followers from either previous editions of similar games or historically would be most appropriate.

[Solomoriah]

I'm in favor of followers appearing only after the character reaches 9th level.

[Dimirag]

Some ideas i had a while ago....

Reputation Level: Its determined by the DM based on the deeds of the character. No matter if you are a level 5 fighter if you always fought "on the shadows"...
The Level would be used to determine the amount of followers/disciples/student/etc... that come every defined time (defined as per Rep Lvl or a base time)

Stronghold/Barracks/School/etc...
Build level by level with the pc money, perhaps an amount of gold based on the pc XP requirements...
The level determine the max amount of followers per HD or Lvl (similar to the spell progression)...

Character Level: Limits the max level of the Stronghold (perhaps 1/2 char level? or Lvl -9, or... (Lvl-9)/2?)

Charisma: This could apply to Reputation: The more Charismatic the better people likes you...

[SmootRK]

I'm in favor of followers appearing only after the character reaches 9th level.

Yes on this. For one thing it is congruent to the various old editions of similar games. Also, it makes the whole process a big event when the character gets that stronghold at the 'name' level (even though BFRPG does not use that nomenclature)... "If you build it, they will come" The character sets up shop, then a crowd of folks show up for their hand-outs.

Followers are one of those Benchmark Achievements.

[Joe the Rat]

---------
some campaign specific or dependent on supplement use
Class
Knight (+2)
Fighter, +0, No more than 10% (by HD) can be
Necromancer (-3)
Magic User ??
Cleric, 25% of followers (by HD) must be zero-level laypersons of non-fighting sort
Druid, Reverse all Fortification Bonuses but must be able to house the humanoids; half of follows (by HD) must be animals (non-humanoid, but may include Giant Animals or things like griffins, owlbears, etc.)
Ranger, reverse Fortification Bonuses for Distance; 25% of followers (by HD) should be animals, 25% should be non-human (elf, dwarf, gnome, orc, gnoll, etc. dependent on circumstance and campaign), and all should be terrain-appropriate for locale.

anyhow, ideas only... just trying to whip out some material for us to work with.

Bandits: "Who's gonna stop us, old man?"
Druid: "Just me... and my three owlbears! Get 'em, boys!"
Owlbears: "Scrreaaawwww!"

The base rules assigned a random number of starting followers, based on class (3d6 fighter, 2d8 cleric, 2d6 thief, 1d8 magic-user). averaging 10.5, 9, 7, and 4.5. This might be a good base to work on initial HD pool for followers for core and related classes. Or go ahead and roll it, if you like.

I think it's a bit restrictive to keep cleric followers to noncombatants. These guys are church militants, and are as likely to draw warrior-priests in training (squire-novices?) as temple priests and supplicants. I can see enforcing a percentage of noncombatants, but not the lot.

Given the extras that fighters start with, would we want to account for animals in their starting pool? I am specifically thinking of cavalry types. Counting horses as 1/2 their HD, or counting cavalry as one level higher could cover this. Alternatively, scratch that, and you provide the mounts and equipment.

0 levels as 1/2 HD works well, but if you have a specialist, they may count as a full HD.

[JoeCarr28]

I think we're in danger of over-complicating here. In keeping with the spirit of the ruleset, I'd be inclined to keep everything as simple and straightforward as possible. My suggestions would be:

1. Build on what's already in the rulebook in terms of the number of followers and their impact on the size of a stronghold. Flesh this out with some tables to introduce additional flavour/structure to the cohort of followers.

2. Try to avoid introducing additional complexity such as "reputation". A character's level ought to be a sufficient indicator of reknown. The use of the CHA modifier seems reasonable though.

3. Focus on the core rulebook classes first. The supplemental classes can be appended later.

[Solomoriah]

Joe has the right of it.

[SmootRK]

Perhaps so,

So Formula is:
(#+Modifiers) x Level = number of HD of followers. Maximum HD of any one follower is 1/2 level of character (rounded down).
# figure is dependent on class? Fighters get x, Clerics get y, Thief get z, etc. (but I think I prefer one number for all classes, only limiting the types by class... for instance MU gets almost no fighters, but may have pixie, brownie, blink dog, or something to protect his home (using up much of his HD allotment).
Modifiers include Charisma Ability Bonus/Penalty, but may include other, sometimes subjective factors determined by Game Master such as size/appropriateness of stronghold, reputation of character, proximity of stronghold to civilization, or other campaign specific factors.

Following that basic section, are charts for each class (4 main classes) containing lists that can be chosen from, rolled, or otherwise determined by the Game Master. (I'd basically recommend in blocks of 5 or 10 individuals but each includes a 'sergeant' of sorts).

After Tables, a little blurb that says "Game Masters should feel free to modify the tables by adding to the offerings, removing entries, or providing alternates to suit their specific campaign circumstances or preferences."