Legend4ry Hirelings, A Redux

Bastion’s death struck a chord with the rest of the fellowship. He had been brave and strong and knew how to swing a sword better than any of them. In his stead a Drow slave named M’Barrus had proclaimed that she was honor-bound to the little Halfling thief, Artemis Swiftfoot, for her part in rescuing the Drow slaves, M’Barrus included. M’Barrus knew how to swing a sword just fine, but her real focus laid within the dark rituals of the Drow priesthood. Artemis and Karlstein knew that while M’Barrus’ help was appreciated, they needed a strong warrior to fill Bastion’s shoes.

Every group has had it happen; a powerful or much needed character has died and a new character is introduced. Maybe this new character fills the old’s shoes, maybe they don’t. In any case, if you’re down a sword or a spell, it’s a nice feeling to have the role filled even if it is from a less powerful or potent source. 

This is where Hirelings can step up and somewhat fill a slot. The rules for Hirelings in 4e D&D first appeared in Dragon 397 and later in Mordenkeinen’s Magnificent Emporium (pages 136-139) and this article is meant to be used alongside these other sources. Hirelings, by nature, are simple creatures, the shadow of an adventurer in every way. Whether they bear a torch for the party or fight on the front lines, a Hireling can be an integral part between life and death for the party.

The rules-as-written for Hirelings are pretty accessible if not a little bland. You shell out hard-earned Gold for a party member that will likely fall in the first combat. If they do survive, their contribution to the battle or the party is often times negligible at best. So, let’s change that. Let’s make Hirelings a threat to your party’s enemies everywhere.

Partially inspired by the post over at Frothsof 4e and my own Legend4ry rules for Hirelings, I’ve decided to take it a bit further. One thing I really liked over at Frothsof 4e was that they suggested giving each Hireling a Theme and 1 skill that they were trained in, thus making them more of a boon to the party. I like that quite a bit, but I think we can take it further still.

So, for optional rules, let’s review what I’ve got in mind:

·         Hirelings gain a Theme at creation

·         Hirelings gain 1 skill to be trained in at creation

·         Hirelings gain a Race and racial ability at creation (Essentials only)

·       Hirelings are considered Minions, but they can take 2 hits per day. If they survive the day, after an Extended Rest they once again can take 2 hits per day.

Now, I really like the ideas mentioned above, but let’s say you want to run a quick and fast Hireling out of the gate on the fly. Well you are in luck, as I have created the templates for four Archetypal Hirelings.

As these bad boys and girls are a little more beefy, I’ve decided that the cost should be increased. By RAW, the maximum cost is “Standard x 3” for a Warrior. As we are using the stoic Sellsword, the mysterious Apprentice, the healing Priest, and the swift Cutpurse; all with stronger or more open abilities, x3 cost seemed cheap, honestly. That’s the reasoning behind using the “Standard x 4,” but of course as a DM fiats are great tools!

Deep within the tunnels of the Underdark with the Drow priestess M’Barrus in tow, Atremis and Karlstein happened across another slave ring. Artemis’ daggers struck true as she felled the Drow guards while swiftly dodging through their legs. Karlstein shouted orders like a general to the party and pointed out weak spots for Artemis’ blades while the Drow priestess conjured up dark bolts of energy and fried the foes before them.

By the time the battle was over and the adventurers had made it to the slave pens all but one of the captives had been slain by the murderous slavers. The Tiefling slave, now freed, introduced himself as Dirk the Wicked. By Dirk’s claims he was once an infernal warrior in Orcus’ army but had since distanced himself from his horrible past. Dirk promised the party that if they let him come along, he would shield them and strike fear into the hearts of their enemies with his deft sword strikes for as long as he should live. The Sellsword was welcomed with suspicion by Karlstein, but if the party were to make it out of these deadly tunnels and caverns they were going to need all of the help they could get. 

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Next time we will be focusing on the Legend4ry Lessons posts and making some codified rules decisions about what has been learned from Legend4ry Basic Rules v1.0. 

Also, be sure to follow DMG 42 as C. Steven Ross DMs me and a potentially doomed 6 others through his very Fourthcore-inspired The Lost Crown of Tesh-Naga!

And finally, be sure to check out the Fourthcore Hub for other great Fourthcore-inspired monster, adventure, dungeons, trap designs, and more. If you are looking to scratch your general RPG itch, then the RPG Blog Alliance has a ton of blogs over varying games from D&D of many editions to many indie games. 

Until next time,

-blob

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