2025 Character Creation Challenge Day 7
You can read more about the challenge here and here.
With equipment and magic items out of the way, the only thing remaining to decide on for Hero level pregens are unusual hirelings, specialists, men-at-arms, and mercenaries.
In original Dungeons & Dragons one can theoretically take an army of men-at-arms and storm the dungeons. Of course, in practice that'd be quite difficult, and would also probably led to friction regarding treasure distribution.
Compared to the income of average adventurer that lives to become a Hero, men-at-arms are quite cheap. From Vol III, p. 23, monthly cost in gold pieces for various men-at-arms:
| Classification | Man | Dwarf | Elf | Orc |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Fighter | 1 | – | – | – |
| Light Foot | 2 | – | – | 1 |
| Heavy Foot | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1-½ |
| Archer | 5 | – | 10 | 3 |
| Crossbowman | 4 | 5 | – | – |
| Longbowman | 10 | – | – | – |
| Light Horseman | 10 | – | – | – |
| Medium Horseman | 15 | – | – | – |
| Heavy Horseman | 20 | – | – | – |
Above makes sense for an ongoing campaign, especially one using Chainmail or Swords & Spells to resolve mass combats with hundreds of combatants. But I am making pregens for con use. Therefore, I believe giving characters any number of men-at-arms wouldn't be helpful. Judge will be able to define any such men-at-arms and their numbers as it is relevant for their session.
Same logic applies to mercenaries and specialists, so I also won't bother with them for the characters I'll be rolling.
Classed hirelings on the other hand, might make sense. As per Vol I, p. 12, “only the lowest level of character types can be hired” and “as a rule of thumb, a minimum offer of 100 Gold Pieces would be required to tempt a human into service, dwarves are more interested in gold, Magic-Users and elves desire magical items, and Clerics want some assurance of having a place of worship in which to house themselves.”
Based on the above, during the character creation I will allow the character to spend money to “recruit” a first level hireling with zero experience. They will also need to fully equip them out of their own pocket.
Since minimum offer is 100 gold pieces, I decided to use the charisma ranking (low, average, high) to determine the multiplier. If one has high charisma, then 100 gp is the base hiring cost, if average then 200 gp is base, and if low then 300 gp is the base. Dwarves are double that, while elves and magic-users expect one magic items. Clerics are like dwarves double, but their second half is donated to their cause.
In tabular form that would be:
| Charisma | Fighting-Man | Cleric or Dwarf | Magic-User or Elf |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low (3–8) | 300 gp | 600 gp | 300 gp and a magic item |
| Average (9–12) | 200 gp | 400 gp | 200 gp and a magic item |
| High (13–18) | 100 gp | 200 gp | 100 gp and a magic item |
I will determine hireling's loyalty as instructed (3d6). Morale will be randomly determined using 2d6 (as suggested in Strategic Review).
Hmm, I must say I am quite satisfied with the above. The issue with con pregens and their hired help has been percolating in my mind for some time now, so I am happy to have come up with such a great solution. Let's see if it actually holds up as I roll characters...
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Tomorrow: first five Heroes.
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